Wednesday 5 Jul 2023

July 5: Genesis 21:8-20

Key Verse: Genesis 21:17
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.

Devotion:
One of the greatest things about God is His mercy! Here we have a family argument brewing over inheritance and who gets to do what. God diffused the argument by encouraging Abraham to send the servant Hagar off with their son; not an easy task for Abraham because it was his son after all. But he listened to God and sent off the servant with the boy into the desert.

Cruel, harsh? Yes by today's standards it is. But this was a very different time and God wanted Abraham to be absolutely sure the boy Isaac would grow to be their son upon whom a great nation would arise. But God never gave up on Hagar the servant. God watched over her as she went off into the desert. When their water was running out Hagar left the boy alone because she could not bare the watch the boy die of thirst. God heard the cries and sent an angel down to care for them!

This boy was the product of human decisions, Abraham and Sarah wanting to speed up what God had said would happen. We don’t need to help God do things He has promised for us. What we do need to do is to have patience to listen to God and wait on Him. He has got this planned out if we are willing to listen and obey.

When things go wrong and we think there is no more hope left, God is waiting patiently in the background for us to call out for help! By listening and obeying we give God the right environment to do what He has planned all along. By doing our own thing we are essentially making it harder for God to accomplish what He has said will happen – no matter what!

Points to Ponder:
Do you try to tell God what to do?

Will you stop and listen to what God says should be done?