Avoid days of trouble.
God said to Abraham, Let it not be evil in thy sight because of thy son, and because of thy maidservant. Listen to all that Sarah tells you. Genesis 21: 12.
Beloved, God has chosen us. However, the days of trouble in our life are not less. It is a puzzling thing. We must know the secret of this. From the life of our spiritual father, Abraham. Because if we find the context of the above verse, we will come to know that Abraham had got into big trouble. So it is a salutary lesson for us to live the life of faith or blessed life.
As we know, God had called Abraham in his old age. He was seventy-five years old. Genesis 12:4. When he reached the land of Canaan, Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him he will give that land to his offspring. Genesis 12;7.
Believing in the promise of God, Abraham was living the life of a stranger in the land of Canaan. It was difficult for him, but to keep Abraham comfortable, God was frequently communicating with him, protecting him, to increase his faith. He blessed him with abundant prosperity to enjoy his faithful life with him. But we can see that Abraham was not happy with these all blessings. He was sad because of the barrenness of Sarah.
Once God appeared unto him and said, fear not, for I am your shield, and a great reward of you, but Abraham respond in a very negative way, he said, O sovereign God what can you give me since I remain childless, you have given me no children so the servant in my household will be my heir. Then God replied to him, this man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your body will be your heir. Genesis 15: 1-4. This clearly meant that God would bless Abraham and Sarah with a son, but they both were in such a hurry that they could not wait a year. Sarah gave her maid Hagar to Abraham as his wife to get a son from her.
The result of this impatient behaviour brought sorrow and pain to their life. The word of God says, “Everything has a time,” Ecclesiastes 3:1. Abraham and Sarah did not understand this and because of this, the birth of Ishmael caused hate and clashes in their family.
God has clearly assured him he is going to give his son from his body, Sarah. But they could not trust him completely. Abraham could not understand the promise of God through his intellect. Yet Abraham’s faith and intellect haven’t matched. Abraham always saw the situation around him and worried about his future. Abraham and Sarah always thought that they were getting older, so if they would have not got a child at a certain age, they may die without a child. To keep their lineage, Sarah took advantage of their culture. According to their culture, they believed the master has the right to the children born to the slave girl. So Sarah thought that because of her age, she could not give the child to her husband, but if Abraham had children from Hagar, it would be her. She talked to Abraham about this and they both agreed about it. They conveniently ignored God’s promise and did what was right in their sight.
As a result, even though Hagar was a maid, she started hating Sarah and Sarah started harassing her. Ishmael had no proper respect for Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac. Genesis 21: 8-9, Galatians 4: 29-30. So Sarah urged Abraham to take Hagar and Ishmael out of the house. She said, “Take out this enslaved girl and her son, for the son of this slave-girl will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac,” Genesis 21:10. This made Abraham very sad. In this distresses God guided Abraham that “It should not be bad for you because of the child and your maid; listen to all that Sarah tells you, for Isaac will be your son. And I will make the son of the maid a great nation, for he is your seed.” Genesis 21: 12-13.
After all, it was difficult to leave their own son in the wilderness. But Abraham believed in God’s guidance and promise and did so. So the quarrel between Sarah and him ended, and God protected Hagar and Ishmael as He has promised and Ishmael became a great nation.
God settled the family of Abraham, but they had gone through great trouble because of the consequences of their mistake. To avoid such kind of trouble, God has given us the holy scripture to get proper guidance to make the right decisions. Scripture says, “The whole holy bible inspired of God, and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for the instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and well equipped for every good work.”. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17.
Our Father has given us His Word to show us the way. King David says, “Your word, O God, is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” “I have more wisdom than all my teachers; for your witnesses are my meditation.” “I understand more than the old because I have obeyed your restrictions.” Psalm 119: 99, 100, 105.
Like King David, let God’s Word influence our minds so that the days of trouble will not come, and we can walk in the path of blessing.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I thank you for your word. Let your comment influence my intellect and help me live my life with your guidance. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Kailas [Alisha] Sathe.
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