Lesson from our Session…………………………..
TUESDAY
(Genesis 21:14) So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba.
Though Abraham loved Ishmael, Abraham rose early in the morning to obey God (God had told him to do what Sarah wanted). Later, Abraham would rise early in the morning to take Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice in obedience to God (Genesis 22). Abraham probably gave Hagar more than bread and water (the Bible does not say); the Bible says Abraham gave her the necessities of life (bread and water) when he sent her away.
Abraham loved Ishmael, so this was not easy for him to do, and he only did so after receiving permission from God and only after receiving the promise of God’s blessing upon and protection of his son. When we remember that Ishmael and Isaac both attended Abraham’s burial, we can believe that Abraham gave up and received back both of his sons, but in different ways.
Lesson: God’s will often requires doing the hard thing and leaving the results to Him (vs. 14)
Reflection: We are so conditioned to providing for others that the idea of pushing someone away is reprehensible. Yet God may require us to do just that in order to redeem that person. God is not asking us to give them over to the devil but rather to give them over to Him. The question is whether we think we know better than God.