Part 3 - Genesis 21:14-21 - MY KINGDOM FOR A GPS!
When we left to Pastor a Church in the Whitsundays we left our children, Ben and Rachel, behind in Sydney. Rachel was still in her late teens, but both of them were already involved in Hillsong Church and did not want to leave. We remember the pain of driving off without them and for the next 10 years we commuted between the Whitsundays and Sydney every opportunity we had. It’s so strange leaving home WITHOUT YOUR KIDS. It is normally the other way around. In Genesis 21 Abraham’s pain must have been so much worse as he realised he would never see Ishmael again.
"So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he SENT HER AWAY with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba." (Genesis 21:14 NLT).
Abraham gives her JUST ENOUGH supplies for a journey to the next well. He doesn’t send them away with a caravan of supplies, just food enough to carry on her back. How cruel is this? (Abraham really doesn’t know how to treat women well). How does he expect her to survive in the desert? He doesn’t give her a plan on what she can do, but hopefully he told her how to get to the next well. The tension and emotion in the air as they leave must be thick.
DIVORCE is never pleasant, especially when children are involved, but Abraham doesn’t count on them getting lost. Most people don’t stop to think about the consequences of divorce or how much it will effect the next generations.
Hagar is now a homeless SINGLE MUM with no resources in a hopeless situation and there’s no women’s shelter in sight. Like so many REFUGEES today she has been through a conflict that has led to her being deprived of a husband, with devastating results.
She heads in the general direction of her old home in Egypt, but sure enough, without a GPS, she MISSES THE NEXT WELL. "When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. "I don’t want to watch the boy die," she said, as she burst into tears." (Genesis 21:15 NLT)
Perhaps Ismael is thinking of the fun he had made of baby Isaac and the consequences of his actions which led them into this desert, but whatever it is, all laughter and cynicism is gone and He begins to cry out to God. In Genesis 21:17 it says that "God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, "Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there."
God of course already knows what is wrong but he wants Hagar to articulate to Him what she knows of her situation so he sends an angel with these questions. GOD’S INTERVENTION INTO MY CIRCUMSTANCES IS SO OFTEN ACTIVATED BY MY CONFESSIONS. "What wrong? Don’t be afraid. Speak to Me. Trust Me". It’s a good policy Just keep speaking to God when life isn’t working out as you planned.
It seems Hagars GPS wasn’t broken afterall - God’s Positioning System. All of sudden Hagar sees the well. So often the answers I need are right in front of me but I can’t see them until I pray (Genesis 21:18-19). Hagar is sent to encourage Ishmael with WORDS OF LIFE AND PRACTICAL HELP.
God bless you Church as you do as 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT) says - "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you." I recited this to a woman some time ago and she said "I couldn’t do that. Why would God be interested in my worries and cares." HE IS! Romans 8:35-37 (NLT) says, "Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ... No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us."
Ishmael "became a skillful archer," (I once was given the mechanism for a crossbow. I wonder what happened to it?) Anyway, "he settled in the wilderness of Paran (Arabia). His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt." and they all lived in conflict with Israel sadly ever after.
Pastor Ross
