Giving Hagar and Ishmael the Permanent Wave
- the dilema of following less than the perfect will of God for your life.
Central Text: Romans 9:7-9
Gen. 21:8-14
8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9 ¶ And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
14 ¶ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
God has a specific plan for each and every life.
-Accepting His salvation will start your journey toward that plan, but will not guarantee you the fulfillment of it.
-It is so very important to stay on the course that God has laid out for you.
Example: On Oct. 31, 1983, Korean Airlines flight 007 departed from Anchorage, AL with destination planned for Seoul, Korea. The planes’ computer had a 1.5 degrees routing error. At first, the error was unnoticeable. Before long, the plane was flying over Soviet airspace. The military sent their jets in pursuit and quickly shot it out of the sky. All on board lost their lives that day.
*Poor decisions will seem minor only for a brief time; but the longer they go uncorrected, the more harm they bring.
In this Bible story, we find Abraham at a crossroads of decision.
Abraham is known as the father of the faith, but we see here one of his greatest trials.
God promised that Abraham would become the father of many generations.
Abraham and Sarah had been married for more than 40 years and they still were not able to have children.
The came up with an alternate plan; to use Hagar, the handmaid of Sarah to conceive a child.
Will he continue to ignore God’s plan and pursue plan B
Sara initially provoked him to use Hagar to give him a child, but she has seen the mistake they made. Ultimately, Abraham must make the right decision to break this off and cast out that which is interfering in God’s perfect will.
At first glimpse, this may seem harsh and uncaring, but the case calls for something drastic to save the family.
Mt. 5:29, 30
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
*For Abraham, an emotional attachment had taken root. After all, Ishmael was a product of his own making and every day the tie to him got stronger.
I. THERE HAD TO BE A PARTING BECAUSE THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS A MISTAKE.
A, Hagar was not evil in and of herself, but she was a detour from God’s perfect plan.
Because of unbelief, Abraham looked for something to make him feel comfortable. His faith had waned, and had come to the point of believing that the will and plan of God needed some help from the human element if it was to take place.
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Why accept anything less than the perfect will of God? You may come out on the other end "by the skin of your teeth", but you will not be unscathed. You will have lost much for your compromise.
It takes maturity to discern between that which is helpful and that which is detrimental to your walk with God.
It takes the Holy Spirit to enable you to continue to make the right decisions.
B. Hagar represents the Substitute that you have accepted in place of His perfect will.
Do not try to help God out. Faith does not require understanding and logic, just simple and continual obedience in what God has already established as His plan for you.
* "God will never reveal more about himself until you have obeyed what you know already."--Oswald Chambers
In other words, don’t expect to grow in the Lord if you are not willing to deal with your past failures.
II. A GOOD-BYE KISS WAS IN ORDER BECAUSE OF WHAT THE RELATIONSHIP HAD PRODUCED.
A. Ishmael was a product of unbelief.
Sara initiated.
Abraham cultivated.
Sometimes we are afraid that God is not going to bless us, so in our lack of faith, we go to work to construct a substitute.
Is that not what has happened with a large number of our "pentecostal" groups. They got tired of "tarrying", thinking that the Holy Ghost was not going to come their way, so they began to pursue in the flesh what can only genuinely come through the Spirit.
Gal. 3:3
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
B. Ishmael was the spittin image of his dad, Abraham.
He was not the promise of God-the son of faith.
Every time Abraham looked at Ishmael, it was like looking in the mirror.He saw physical similarities, like actions, etc. and it made that binding all the more adherent.
Rom. 14:23
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Ishmael was the son of Abraham, but not the son of Sara. The words of Sara were easy to say, but Abraham was looking at a personal investment and a heartthrob that was his own. The attachment was more than emotional, but nonetheless, due to its conception, it had to be dealt with and cut off.
III. THE ADIOS KISS WAS OBLIGATORY BECAUSE GOD WAS CALLING ABRAHAM ONWARD.
A. The Blessing of God cannot be found in the Failures of Yesterday.
You cannot simply ask God to bless your mess and continue on as if nothing has ever happened.
"If you don’t deal with your mistakes, after a while, your mistakes will mock your miracles"--T. D. Jakes
There came a time when Ishmael got big enough that his childish innocency wore away and he began to be a mocker. Sara noticed it and called Abraham to do something about it.
Today, a preacher is telling you, that it is high time to deal with that Ishmael in your life. Don’t let him stand there and mock what God is trying to bless you with.
He will mock at holiness. Are you going to buy that? Or, are you willing and bold enough to do what you should have done long ago, and give that "Hagar and Ishmael" the permanent wave. Maybe a good-bye kiss would be a little too sweet. Anyhow, you better send them on their way.
B. Abraham could not walk into the future shackled to the failures of yesterday.
God has greater things in store for your future, but you cannot drag your past shortcomings with you.
You may say, that so and so is getting away with it. Why can’t I? It is suffice to say that you must do what God is calling you to do, and leave so and so in the hands of God.
Rom. 14:12
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
**I give acknowledgment and thanks to Rev.Mark Beaird for inspiration and related information.
