Ishmael Moment's

Have you ever had an Ishmael moment? You know, like Abraham and Sarah, you grow impatient, or become frightened that the way it seemed as a dream or promise was going to be fulfilled may not happen, so you decide to help God out. For Sarah, it was the suggestion that Abraham have a son by her servant Hagar. (I always find it interesting that Abraham didn't argue about the idea, but was perfectly willing to spend a night with Hagar, but that's another story.) So Ishmael is born.

But this wasn't God's plan. What happened? I think Abraham got so locked in on what he wanted that he wasn't willing to let God do what God wanted to do. In Genesis 15:2, after God tells Abraham about all the ways He is going to bless him, Abraham says: “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?” Abraham had such tunnel-vision on what he wanted, he was willing to go outside of God's will to acquire what he wanted...a son.

But Abraham didn't understand that God’s promises aren’t just goods and blessings to make us happy. Though God does want us to be happy and He does give us good gifts, the deeper meaning is what lies behind the promise. Abraham wanted a son and it would have been nothing for God to give him a son quickly. But the bigger picture was how God established His covenant and sealed it with a miraculous promise. The promise wasn’t just Isaac, but the never-ending promise that linked Isaac to the coming redemption of Jesus Christ on the cross. Isaac was only a piece of the bigger plan of God.

But most of us are not too unlike Abraham. We get so focused in on our dream, our desire, or our problem, that we are willing to step outside of God's promise to move us either close to our dream or resolve our problem. And most of us have to admit, that like Abraham, the times we have done that have created tremendous issues for us.

Let me close today by giving you two suggestions when you are tempted with Ishmael moments. Of course, number 1 is, trust God to accomplish what He has promised in His way. His way will always be better. And number 2, if you have had an Ishmael moment and you are struggling with the consequences of your choices, take heart. God is a master and blessing our Ishmael moments. More about that next time!

Waiting

It is a part of life that all of us have to experience, yet few of us enjoy...waiting. Whether it is waiting at the doctor's office, waiting at a red-light, waiting at a restaurant, or waiting for a sermon to get over so we can go wait at a restaurant, waiting is a shared struggle in the human experience.

One of the more difficult things about being a Christian is waiting on God after God has made a promise to us. Abraham and Sarah certainly knew what it was like to wait on the Lord. Twenty-five years passed from the time God promised a son to them until the fulfillment of that promise was realized.

So I think we can call Abraham an expert on waiting. Later this week, we are going to look at two wrong responses we have when we are forced to wait on the Lord, and three right responses that Abraham demonstrates while waiting on the Lord.

But let me leave you today with this wonderful promise to those who find themselves in a position of waiting on the Lord. It is found in Isaiah 40: "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."