City Life Starter

Written by Aisha Darwesh

The Word

⁸ And 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, laughing. ¹⁰ So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” ¹¹ And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. ¹³ And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman 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 in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Genesis 21:8-14 (ESV)

³⁵ Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. ³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. ³⁷ For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; ³⁸ but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”

³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Hebrews 10:35-39

Aisha’s Analysis

In today’s verses, we see that Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, was laughing in mockery at Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, at Isaac’s coming of age celebration feast. This greatly disturbed Sarah who witnessed it, so she asked Abraham to cast out Hagar and Ishmael, which God agreed with. 

Although this might have put Abraham in a difficult position at first blush at the notion, ultimately this decision was backed by God and that was what empowered Abraham to rise early the next day and send Hagar and Ishmael packing.  

It does lead one to wonder: why did God support sending Hagar and Ishmael away? For one, He never authorized Abraham to get together with Hagar. That was Abraham and Sarah’s bright idea to help God with the promise He gave them. Secondly, God assured Abraham that He would make a nation of Hagar and Ishmael also because they belonged to Abraham. Because Abraham had this assurance from God, he was able to let go of his firstborn son. Additionally, we could theorize that Ishmael’s treatment of Isaac with contempt could have posed a threat to Isaac’s growth and development. Isaac was the child of Abraham and Sarah–the one whom God had promised. Perhaps God wanted to send Hagar and Ishmael away in order to protect Isaac.   

This gives us an insight into God’s heart for us–we ought to send away those things that mock or belittle what God has promised to us personally.

Application

How can you protect the promise in your life? Today’s application is to monitor your own thoughts and attitudes towards what God has promised you. Have you adopted a mindset that belittles His promise? If so, send it packing. It has no place in your life. 

Prayer

Father God, thank You for all Your promises in my life. Mainly, thank You for sending Jesus who made a way for us to dwell together for all eternity. I want to protect our relationship. Please show me anything getting in the way, so I can cast it out of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.