The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.So she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.’ The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named after you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, ‘Do not let me look on the death of the child.’ And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.’ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt. (Genesis 21:8-21)
There are many things I love about the Bible, but its honesty is what really impresses me. There is no one perfect in its pages, save God and God's Son, Jesus. The rest of the persons portrayed in it are just like you and me. Its message to me is that we keep striving and walking with God; we should not falter nor give up. And from each story we should receive what it may share with us. Take this morning's story. You perhaps know the background story, and you may know the reality of the consequences of this story as well. Abraham is known as the Father of the Faith by Jews and Christians alike, but he is also known as father by the Muslims. When he and his wife Sarah had difficulty in producing an heir, Sarah has the idea of giving him Hagar his servant woman as his second wife, and she conceived and bore a son named Ismael. And eventually, Sarah conceived and bore Abraham the son that was named Isaac. You can imagine the fun both women had with their own sons and the relationship between them, each other, and with the other mother. And that's what we read about today. The sons seemed to get along, but the presence of Ismael troubled Sarah to the point of saying, "It's either her and her son, or me and my son! What's it gonna be?" I'm making it too nice, Sarah said basically, "Ditch the woman and her son." And though it troubled Abe much, he did just that. Keep in mind that Isaac plays a very important role in the story of faith for Jews and Christians, so does Ismael for the Muslims. And keep in mind that since that day when the two families split, there has been no love lost between Jews and Arabs; a feud that continues to this day. They share a common father and a common hatred towards each other.
God provided for the two families, even for the one who wandered the desert to the point of death; and God does the same for families who find themselves feuding with each other about other things. As I read this passage I thought about Adam and Eve's first children and the first murder in the Bible. I thought about the children of Isaac and the fight for birth rights. I thought about a dear friend and his family's struggle with the last will and testament of their parents. And I thought about myself. "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" There are certainly no perfect families. I jokingly say, "Jesus said, 'where two or three people are gathered, there's going to be trouble,'" And while that is usually true, it was not what Jesus said. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be also." The key is to invite and keep Jesus present in all of our dealings with others and with ourselves. The peace of Christ that we read about on Monday sometimes does seem like a sword as He said. But onward and upward we press; sure and confident that God is with us and God will help us sort all things out.
PRAYER: Loving Father, help us love You more and more each day. Help us love ourselves as we should, and help us love others in the same way we love ourselves. Bless each family represented in the reading of this devotional and prayer; help us overcome the challenges and struggles to become the people You have called us to be. And we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Tell a family member you love them.
Eradio Valverde
