Genesis 21:1-34

I am sure that when Abraham answered God’s call to leave Ur and believed that God would give him numerous descendants, he imagined the promise would come to pass much sooner than it did.  It did, however, come to pass.  God’s plans are amazing and we will do well to wait patiently for them to come to pass.
GOD PRODUCES AN HEIR THROUGH SARAH: Just has God had promised a year earlier, Sarah conceived and bore a son that they called Isaac.  Sarah laughed when she heard the promised, she laughed when she became pregnant, she laughed when the baby was born and she invited everyone who heard her story to laugh right along with her.  It was only appropriate that the child be named laughter.  God is a specialist and turning our tears into joy, turning our fear into hope and turning our trials into victories.  This was a great time of joy in Abraham’s house.  It is a wonderful thing to serve a God who keeps His promises.  We are blessed to know this God that is not limited by the circumstances of life or confined to the normal laws of nature.  God is above all circumstances and can suspend the normal course of nature in order to fulfill His promises.  He has done it before, He will do it again and He is able to do it now in whatever circumstance or trial we might be facing.
GOD PRODUCES HELP FOR ISHMAEL: Ishmael is the son of Hagar through Abraham and now that Isaac has been born, Ishmael presents a problem for Sarah.  Ishmael makes fun of Isaac and Sarah wants to protect her son.  None of this would have happened had Sarah and Abraham trusted God in the first place and waited for God to do as He had promised.  Running ahead of God is a dangerous thing that will always have its consequences. At Sarah’s insistence and with God’s confirmation Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away from the protection of their home.  When their food supply runs out and they come to the point of giving up, God reveals Himself to Hagar and helps her to find water for herself and Ishmael.  God promises to give help to them and that Ishmael will be the father of a nation.  This all comes true in time.  God often waits until we have exhausted all of our strength before He steps in and gives the help that is needed.  God’s mercy and grace is abundant.
GOD PROTECTS THE HERD FROM ABIMELECH: Abraham and Abimelech have yet another confrontation.  Abimelech is preoccupied by the wealth and power of Abraham so he goes out to make a treaty with Abraham that they will not go to war.  Abraham agrees, however complains about disputes over wells that Abraham has dug but then Abimelech’s people have come and claimed as their own.  Abimelech claims not to know of any such thing, but it is rather hard to believe that he would admit to such a thing.  At any rate, with this treaty Abraham’s place in the land in secured and the new well he has dug is protected by the treaty.  Water is vital in this area and God moved in the heart of Abimelech to give Abraham, his family and his animals the water that they needed to survive and flourish.  It is an awesome blessing to have a God that provides and protects.   

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