Image from thereflectionary.org
Hear the devotional read here: http://bit.ly/2nnDZRj
8 The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. 10 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." 11 The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 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 for you. 13 As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring." 14 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. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. 16 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. 17 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. 18 Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him." 19 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. 20 God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt. (Genesis 21:8-21 NRSV)
May this Wednesday bring you rich and wonderful blessings is my prayer for you, dear Friend. If I can ask for a personal privilege, I wish my dear, beautiful, and always young wife, a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Yes, God blessed the world with her birth some years ago in Falfurrias, Texas. I was born just down the road in Kingsville, and how I wish I could say we visited each other in the nurseries of our respective hospitals. But I'm proud to say we met in church, which was much better! Nellie, you have made my life so blessed, and I love you more than ever.
Years ago while serving a church a dear church member on his way to being truly a dear friend and brother in Christ called me his "brother from another mother." I had not heard that before but really liked it. And I have recently heard women saying, "My sister from another mister." Interesting connotations of affection don't you think? I wish that were true for this passage as well, but it is not so. From Abraham came two sons. The first born was Ishmael, born to Hagar; the second was born to Sarah and his name was Isaac. You know the story; Sarah was the wife of Abraham, and Hagar was a servant woman. You might also remember it was Sarah's idea for Abraham to sleep with Hagar to have the son he desired. God had other intentions and these were revealed in the birth of the second son. We truly don't know the tensions that existed between the two women but we can guess that things were not that rosy between them. For a time the servant woman held it over her mistress that she had a child and Sarah did not. What we do know is what we read above, that once Isaac was weaned and could play with his brother, the older brother, according to other versions, taunted the boy thus leading Sarah to tell Abraham to make Hagar and her son leave the compound for she did not Hagar nor Ishmael to inherit what would be Issac's. And the old man had no choice but to do as his wife ordered. What's the saying? "Happy wife, happy life."
The narrative tells that even though the trip through the desert was almost fatal for Hagar and Ishmael, God provided for them. What we have read was the start of what seems to be an eternal strife that only God could heal, for Ishmael goes on to become the father of the Arabian people, and Isaac the father of the Jews. From the two sprang up two of the world's most powerful religions as well as countless wars. There is no love lost between the descendants of these two men even to this very day. The Hatfields and the McCoys couldn't compete in this contest such as it is. We remember also that from Adam and Eve came two full brothers, Cain and Abel, and from them came the first fratricide; brother killing brother. We saw brother fighting brother in our own Civil War; and on our streets even these days, brothers who should be loving one another, fight and kill. God, please have mercy.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, may peace reign in our hearts. May old wounds and angers melt in the presence of Your love. Teach us to love one another as we should. May Your peace reign in every corner of the world. Allow us to be part of the healing processes; this we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Bless one another with words of love and life today; build each other up.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
