God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to
Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be
afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take
him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."
Then God opened her
eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water
and gave the boy a drink.
God was with the boy
as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living
in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt. Genesis
21:17-21 (NIV)
Abraham’s family situation was complicated. It certainly
wasn’t Mayberry. Now that God had given Abraham and Sarah the heir to the
promise, they didn’t need a spare. At Sarah’s prompting and with God’s direction
(Genesis
21:11-13), Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away.
Was Ishmael a mistake? Was Ishmael a problem that would
never be resolved? Ishmael was out of Abraham’s family, but not out of God’s
blessing.
Regardless of who you are, how you got here, or what you’ve
done, God loves you and wants to bless you. That’s just Who God is. If you feel
that you don’t deserve God’s blessing, well, that’s how it’s supposed to be. You
and I don’t deserve God’s blessing.
God loves you, and there’s really nothing you can do about
that.
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