God Uses Our Ishmael's

Do you recall when Sarah told Abraham to have a child with her maid Hagar, instead of waiting on God to give her a child from her natural body (Genesis 16)? And so, Hagar and Abraham had a son, Ishmael.

Despite our mistakes; Despite our not waiting on God to deliver His promises to us; Despite us trying to help God along the process of life, He is still faithful. And no matter what we do wrong, if He has purposed us to do something, our mistakes will not stop Him from giving us or allowing us to do that thing He has purposed us to do.

I can relate to Sarah. She’s a go-getter. I’m a go-getter. Us go-getters make things happen. But despite us go-getters making things happen, there will be times in life that God will make us wait. (sigh- haha!) There are times He will make us all wait for His promises. And there’s nothing worse than having to live with the consequences of not waiting on God.

However, despite Sarah’s lack of faith and despite our lack of faith, God will sometimes use our “Ishmaels.” God brought Ishmael (his descendants) back into the picture later in Genesis chapter 39. It was the Ishmaelites that purchased Joseph from his brothers and sold him to Potiphar in Egypt. The “Ishmael”ites brought Joseph to Egypt because God had a greater plan, to deliver His people from famine and later deliver them from slavery to freedom in the Promise Land.

So what does this mean? Does it mean that we can start creating Ishmaels because God will still love us and still use us for His purposes? Or, does it mean that our faithful Father, despite our Ishmaels, can make something beautiful out of unwise choices? I think the latter question is more fitting. While God will always love us and we don’t have to live under the burden of mistakes, we must wait on Him. He will deliver His promises and purpose for our lives at the right time. Because He who called us is faithful (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Happy Friday!