When Abraham Sent Away the Little Mermaid

Suggested Reading: Genesis 21:1-21

The Disney movie, The Little Mermaid, is one that I watch very differently now as a father than I did when I was growing up. I used to watch the movie and identify with Ariel, the teenage mermaid who longed for her freedom and the chance to be with the one she loved. Since I became a father, I tend to identify with King Triton, the father who wants to protect his little girl but has to make the tough decision, not only to let her go in the end, but to empower her to go live her own life. I have often wondered what that decision will be like for me, but then I think about the number of times in my life that I have been forced to let people go and I realize we have to let people go all the time.

Abraham, knew something about letting people go. We have already talked briefly about Abraham's and Sarah's choice to have a child through Hagar, Sarah's maidservant. Well, when they finally had their own son, Isaac, Hagar's son Ishmael no longer fit into Sarah's plans. When she saw Ishmael ridiculing Isaac, she decided it was time for both Ishmael and Hagar to go. Abraham disagreed because he loved Ishmael, his firstborn son. But when Abraham took the issue to God, God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted. But I will also make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he is your son, too" (Genesis 21:12-13, NLT). God reassured Abraham that He would care for Ishmael even though Abraham would have to let Ishmael go.  

Most of the time, we don't have to give up our children when they are as young as Ishmael was, but we often have to give up people before we are ready. We have to give up friends who move across the country, loved ones who strike out in their own direction, or people who are simply pulled away from us by circumstances. And even if we keep in contact with these people from time to time, we still feel the loss and the concern for their welfare that comes from not being directly involved in their lives. In each of these cases, while we may not have an audible promise from God, we can rest assured in God's goodness that God will provide for those we can no longer watch after. 

The choice we are faced with is will we cling to people, worrying about them when God's plan has removed them from our daily lives, or will we place them in God's hands, trusting God to care for them as we never could in the first place? Choosing to let go is not a sign that you don't care; it is a sign that you trust God. Who do you need to place in God's hands?

Getting a Wife-Mandated Mistress

Suggested Reading: Genesis 16:1-16

One of my favorite authors, Stephen Lawhead, often puts a disclaimer at the beginning of his books when the subject matter required him to consult others to make his details realistic. In this disclaimer he thanks those who have helped him with his research and then adds a note that any place the details might not add up the way they should is entirely his own fault. He gives credit for the help he had received but takes credit for the mistakes up front, not that I ever have or would have noticed any mistakes.

At the opposite end of that spectrum are Sarai and Abram. As they grew older, with Abram in his 80s and Sarai in her 70s, they still had not had any children. So Sarai convinced Abram to have a child with her servant Hagar so that she could count the servant's child as her own. Abram might have refused but the practice was fairly common at the time among couples who couldn't have children so Abram went along with it. When Hagar got pregnant she began looking at Sarai with contempt, possibly believing she could now replace her mistress (one of the common problems with this plan). So Sarai approached Abram, scolding him, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!” (Genesis 16:5, NLT).  Sarai, emotional and insecure as she was, came storming in, blaming Abram that her own plan had worked. She had come up with an idea, persuaded Abram to go along with it, and then got bent out of  shape at the predictable consequences when it did work. Isn't that just like us, sometimes?

How often do we come up with a plan or take action without quite thinking it through all the way and then get angry when the natural consequences of that plan come to pass? Worse yet, how often are we unwilling or unable to accept the blame for our own actions and try to pin the blame on someone else? We forget to make an appointment but it's the repair shop's fault they can't get us in. We wait to leave until the last possible minute but it's traffic's fault that we are late. We tell a spouse to set out hamburger meat, but it's their fault they didn't know we meant chicken breasts. We talk about someone behind their back but it's their fault they're being overly sensitive.

One of the least endearing qualities in any human being is the inability to take credit for mistakes or for the consequences of our own choices. When we mess up, let's have the courage to own up to our mistakes because Sarai was right about one thing:  The Lord will show who's wrong.