“I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
Don had a rather funny thing in his house when I met my wife. It was a fish on a plaque. Kind of weird and unusual to look at because it was not a stuffed fish, but a rubber one. The plaque had a red button on it and just staring at the plaque made you want to push it. Years later, my finger pushed the red button and the rubber fish leapt into action like it is flopping but stuck on the plaque. He started to sing a song, “There’s a little song I wrote….don’t worry be happy.” It would not stop until the song was over. It was too late, my children had already seen it and heard it and you guessed it, the little red button was pushed way too many times that day. One thing that was burned into our ears that day was the phrase “don’t worry be happy now.” We still have that fish plaque and it still works. Every time I look at I am reminded of Don, a man who did not worry about anything and displayed a happy tone about life, a tone I hope to replicate when I am older.
Ishmael gets a bad wrap in today’s Christian world. He is the father of the Arab nations and his brother Isaac is father of the Israel and Jewish people. We seem to forget that both of these men were blessed by God. One was the son of the promise whom Jesus would be introduced into the world and the other would be blessed with a nation of people just because he was Abraham’s son.
Ishmael, being the father of the Arab nations is thought to be a direct descendant to Muhammad, gets wrapped into the Islamic faith as if the religion of Islam was a competing religion back in the day. To put things into perspective, Abraham was born in 2166 BC and Muhammad was born in 560 AD. That is a difference of over 2700 years before Islam was born from Muhammad and his vision. The competing religions of the day came from Egypt and Cannan. You can read about them, they fill the Old Testament. Names such as Baal and Molech dominated the Middle East, not Islam.
Abraham was one who followed the Lord and most likely made his entire family and servants do the same. Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, would have been subject to this because she was Sarah’s maid servant not some distant person but a part of the family.
As the story progresses, Ishmael and Hagar get thrown out of Abraham’s house and sent away. As sad as this is, the Bible tells us that Hagar went “wandering in the Desert of Beersheba” (vs. 14). In other words, she did not know where to go because Abraham’s house was home for her.
The Bible tells us in verse 17 of chapter 21 that God hears the cry of Ishmael and opens Hagar’s eyes to see a well in which she and the boy drink and survive. In verse 21 it tells us that she was living in the Desert of Paran and she found an Egyptian wife for Ishmael. He would go on to be a great nation just like the Lord said. Marring an Egyptian wife is a picture of rejecting the Lord and serving other gods. We don’t get to fully understand how this happened but the next time we hear about Ishmael is when Joseph get sold into slavery when his brother’s see the “Ishmaelites” traveling to Egypt. Even though the Lord blessed Hagar and Ishmael with water from a well they did not follow God.
There are lots of aspects to the story but I want to capitalize one point most of us miss. Ishmael, being the son of Abraham and Sarah’s attempt to do what God only can do, still was blessed (vs.13). Believing in God was up to him. Yes, the Lord may bless you because He is a good God, but believing and walking with Jesus is up to us. God will not force us to believe, we must choose Christ. Don had a lot of issues with his health when he was an older man and some more crazy things that happened to him but that little fish on the wall singing “don’t worry be happy” was Don’s hallmark card. Getting kicked out of your house and almost dying in the desert was enough to point your finger at God for sure but believing in the one true God was up to Hagar and Ishmael and God gave them over 2700 years to rectify that choice before Satan came along and Islam was born.
You may be in the same position as Hagar and Ishmael, kick out and left for dead. Not knowing where the next meal is or even worse, having been estranged from the ones who said they loved you. God did not leave you alone! He is in your hard place and He is pointing you to the very thing that will salvage your life, His son Jesus. Don’t get dupped into the lie that God has abandoned you. Jesus is waiting at the door and knocking waiting for you to open it and let Him in. “Don’t worry be happy now” is playing and the Lord and savoir Jesus Christ just pushed the red button reminding you to snap out of it.
Prayer: Father, so many times we let our circumstances define our resolve. Today, I pray that our eyes are open to all you have for us and that you love us unconditionally. You went looking for us when no one else would and I pray that today we run to you Lord. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
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