No Kidding a Kidder

Genesis 21: 8-20

And the laughter stops. Sarah, who as all laughs in the last section, doesn't like the satirical stylings of Ishmael. His mocking of Isaac doesn't go over very well, and she has Abraham send him and his mother away. It seems like Sarah was destined to have problems with these two anyway.

After she set up the encounter between Hagar and Abraham back in chapter 16, Hagar got resentful, Sarai started mistreating her, and surprise- the two women who shared a man had trouble coexisting.

And now, when Ishmael makes fun of his little half-brother, Sarah has had enough and it's off to the desert with them. At least in my mind it comes off a little harsher than we aren't getting along, let's part ways. "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." (NIV)

In so many ways, I feel like I relate a whole lot more to Ishmael than Isaac. Rarely have I felt like I fit in in church circles. The kids my age were the "chosen ones"- they had nicer clothes, were better looking, had more money. I never had the right last name, the same confidence, or maybe even the feeling that people wanted to be around me as much as I wanted to be around them.

And my defense mechanism? Mockery. In ways probably both healthy and not, I've depended on wit, and maybe even more often ridicule to account for insecurities and strive to fit in.
Ishmael probably felt the same way. Hey, Abraham's my father- and all I keep hearing is that I'm not the chosen one. The seed won't come through the slave. We'll tolerate Ishmael, because of Abraham, but he's really not one of us. And when he strikes back with his weapon, humor, it doesn't work out for him- he's sent out to the desert to die of thirst.

And Hagar, maybe she overstepped her bounds back in chapter 16, but it seems like she really gets a raw deal. Banishment, because Sarah is offended by her son's sense of humor.

2 big lessons here that I can see.

1) When things get too much for Hagar, she despairs. She can't bear to watch her boy die of thirst, so she goes off and cries. She doesn't call out for God, but He hears her all the same- and reassures her. God saves them by giving them more water- and is with Ishmael as he grows.
God heard the cries of the outcasts. He took them under his wing- why shouldn't I believe he doesn't do the same today? Even if the Christian poster-children reject you, that doesn't mean that God does. He may even fulfill your needs without your having to ask for them.

2) God tells Abraham not to worry about Ishmael and Hagar. He says the line is coming through Isaac. While I don't understand why he still shouldn't have shown greater compassion on the fruit of his loins, it's important to realize that God's running the show. Abraham- I've got it under control- now matter how much worrying you do- how much you try to work it all out, I'm still in charge, and through me it'll all work out.

It's hard to let go of the things you can't really control. Maybe God saw that Hagar and Sarah were never going to get along, and used the situation for the best furtherance of His plans.
How hard it is to not try to work things out for God.