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After so many years of waiting on God for the fulfillment of His promise to bless them with a child; Abram and Sarai sought a way out for themselves. In trying to help God interpret His Word and fulfill His promise, they opted to have the child through Sarai’s maid. Ishmael came as a result of that arrangement. It was like something they felt they could settle for and with Sarai having passed the age of child bearing; they felt it was a done deal with Ishmael. But long after the birth of Ishmael, God came reiterating the earlier promise He made to Abram concerning the child Sarai was going to deliver. God in that encounter changed Abram’s name to Abraham – father of nations and Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah – a mother of nations.
Abraham was taken aback, because; in that particular encounter in our text passage, Ishmael failed the test of divine acknowledgment. Divine acknowledgment comes on the basis of what God permits for you and not on the basis of what you are able to arrange for yourself at the expense of God’s Word. Abraham eagerly sought to bring Ishmael into the picture; but God stuck to the promise He gave long ago. God never loses grip of His Word. “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord shall stand” Proverbs 19:21. Abraham sought to have God make do with his arrangement; because, humanly speaking, God’s arrangement seemed to have become an impossible task to execute.
“O that Ishmael might live” was Abraham’s cry; but God said – “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed”. Abraham tried to help God by insisting on Ishmael; but God dragged him to the “Page” He had always been, with Sarah his wife having a son and God went ahead to name the child. Friends! No matter what your situation has turned out to be, God remains faithful to the promise He made long time ago. No matter the twists, no matter the things you feel have gone wrong; the Word God has spoken shall surely prevail. You will do well by getting on the same page with Him. He is the God of all flesh and there is nothing too hard for Him.
