Chapter 21 of Genesis is a chapter of fulfilment and blessing. At last Sarah has her son and they call him Isaac (meaning laughter). This leads to a strange conflict between Sarah and Hagar, her maidservant who bore Ishmael to Abraham, which results in Hagar being sent away. This time of fulfilment seems to be marred by this conflict, the roots of which, ironically, lay in Sarah’s unbelief that God would fulfil his promise as he now just had. Hagar’s pregnancy came about at Sarah’s behest as she attempted to make the promise happen in her own way. And now that God had fulfilled his promise in his way, we find that there is conflict. It is interesting to follow, in the Bible, the relationship between God’s faithfulness and the fumbling faith of his people. What you see is that many of the problems people encounter are actually the result of their own unbelief and foolishness. But even here God is able to resolve things and bring greater blessing in spite of the situation. This is the case with Hagar who is cared for by God and given the promise that her son also would become a great nation. He is after all, also a son of Abraham and therefore an heir of the promise in Genesis 12:2-3. When all else fails and all seems lost, God’s promise never fails. You might be in a difficult situation, but God is committed to you. Through Christ you are an heir of God’s promise. In his time and in his way, God will lead you through this situation to bless you and make you a blessing to others.
Think about whether you are being adversely affected by past choices. Ask God to bring blessing out of this situation. You can do that, it is biblical.
Read Genesis 21
