Reading: Genesis 21:1-21

There is a lot I’d like to know about these stories of Abram/Abraham’s family.

I’m curious about Ishmael. How was he raised? There were 13 years between his birth and the time that God told Abram that he would have another son, this one with Sarah as the mother. Until that point, who raised Ishmael—Sarah, or his mother, Hagar?

And then there’s Sarah. If she did have a hand in raising Ishmael, why did she turn on him so quickly? And if she didn’t, what changed from her original plan?

I wonder about Abraham. I can’t imagine the stress he probably lived with, mediating (or maybe just trying to hide from) the two strong-willed women. He may have been rich, but money doesn’t fix those kinds of problems!

Finally, I wonder about God. Why did He wait so long to send Sarah a child of her own (or even state that it was His intention to do so)? Obviously He had his reasons.

Maybe having certainty earlier on would have prompted Sarah to treat Hagar and Ishmael even worse. Maybe God wanted to wait until it was painfully obvious that this baby boy was all his doing and there was no chance of it being interpreted as a natural even.

Despite not having a full understanding of all of the nuances, though, I take comfort in God’s promise to Hagar. More than just promising to help him out, God heard Ishmael.

I don’t know about you, but being truly heard probably means more to me even than action most of the time. And fortunately for me, we still have every reason to believe that God does hear us. That’s good news… even if He doesn’t always tell us all the details!