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There are these times in life when the people that you care about, the people that mean the most to you do things that make you so proud to be friends with them, or family with them. Sometimes your just proud to know this person. There are these stories in the bible that just make you proud that say “That is my God!” There are certain stories that seem to give you incredible insight to what kind of God we have. It gives us an idea of what kind of God we serve.
One of my favorite stories in the bible is one that I feel like a lot of people overlook, its the story of Hagar and Ishmael. In Genesis 16 we find what I feel is a story that gives us incredible insight into who our God is. Just a quick lead up to what i want to talk about. So we know that God had promised Sarah a child, but Sarah had lost heart and so she send Abraham to bed with her servant Hagar, and the bore a son Ishmael. When Hagar found out she was pregnant she seems to look differently at Sarah, and so Sarah gets angry and Abraham says “Do what you have to.” So Sarah scares Hagar off and she flees. So we come to the good part. In verse 7 is says “The angel of the LORD found Hagar…” The angel of the LORD asks where she is going and then tells her to go back and submit and the LORD will increase her descendants and they will be too numerous to count.
Oh to have a God that when we are wandering in the desert will find us. It reminds me of the story of Mary sitting outside the tomb on Easter morning, and she is sobbing, and Jesus walks up to her and asks her why she is crying. At this great moment of sadness Jesus came to Mary. How amazing is it that we serve a God that comes to us, that find us in our times of need. This is a clear difference from the other Gods of the time. The other Gods were tied to these idols and required offerings, but OUR God doesn’t require these things, doesn’t even require that we search for God. Hagar was not searching for God, but God found her.
So in the next chapter we see Abraham get his name change and a reaffirmation of God’s promise for a son by Sarah and once again, promises “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.” So God is promising to take care of Ishmael, even though it was a lack of faith that was the reason he was born God doesn’t seem to hold this against Ishmael. God could have said, this is not how this is supposed to go. But instead he say “I will take care of him”
The God the we serve is a God that takes care of his children.When Isaac is born Sarah sends Hagar and Ishmael away, so so they enter the desert once again. This to me is the most beautiful part of the story. When the water was gone Hagar puts her child under a bush because she cannot bare to watch her child die in her arms. As she sits alone, “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. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Gen. 21:17-18
God comes to Hagar once again says that he has heard the boy’s cries and tells her to go be with him, and once again promises to make a “great” nation of him. How wonderful is our God that time and time again when we find ourselves in the desert and we forget the words that we have been told, that God doesn’t get angry and say “What is your problem, don’t you get it?” but is there for us and continues to assure us that we are taken care of that our needs will be met and that we have great things in front of us.
God keeps his promise to both Isaac and Ishmael and made great nations out of both sons. Isaac the Father of the Jewish faith and Ishmael the Father of the Islamic faith. Oh how many questions this brings up in terms of salvation and what kind of God we have. This may get me into some trouble but I really have a hard time believing in a God that would create a nation of person, a “great” nation of persons that were doomed to an eternity separate from God. I have a hard time believing that the same God that came to Hagar in the desert, that spoke with Abraham, and promised to watch over this boy would do this only in life and not in death. Now this is my own personal beliefs and am not trying to convert or change minds but simply looking at it from the view point of Love, of Gods Love, of God’s Most Perfect Love.
Ishmael was as much a child of Abraham as Isaac was, whether Sarah thought so or not. God saw promise in this boy, so much so that the bible says that “God was with the boy as he grew up.” That is my God, that is the God that I serve, one that does not leave his Children but watches over them. Its what gives me hope for the millions of children in Africa that will grow up without parents, that God is with them. For the children all over the world, that are in need. God has not given up on them and neither should we. God had not given up on them because he has called each and everyone of us to respond and to help the “least of these”.
We in America seem to have such a negative view of our Islamic brothers and sisters, we hold resentment for the actions of a select few and use this to fuel our hatred for people who are different. To think that a negative ad in a campaign can be as simple as calling someone a Muslim. Trying to strike fear into people to sway their vote. Tons and tons of emails being sent out and forwarded by people afraid. This is so sad, I feel like the same God that watched over Isaac also watched over Ishmael. The same God that made a nation for Isaac, made a nation of Ishmael. If God can care for both sides then why can’t we? It is apparent by the scripture that Abraham loved both his sons. It seems to me that its quite simple, the command is to Love. Not just people who agree and not just people who are like us to but simply love. To love all of God’s creation. Idealistic? Maybe.
But it seems that I don’t have to be 100% right to Love someone, they don’t have to be 100% right for me to Love them. It seems to me as difficult as it may be its actually pretty simple. “Love your Neighbor as yourself.” Who is your neighbor? Any and Everyone! That is what my God looks like, that is the God that I serve. A God that is big enough for all faiths, and beliefs. The God that find us in our loneliness and promises to watch over us, to love us and take care of us.
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