Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live before you!”
Genesis 17:17-18 NET
God had led Abraham into Canaan, promising to give it to him and his descendants. Abraham was old when he came to Canaan and had no children. A dozen years later, he still had no children. So, Sarah gave him her slave to have children for her. And Ishmael was born.
We might question the morality of what Abraham and Sarah did. But it was in line with the cultural practice of the day. And it is not recorded that God had yet promised descendants through Sarah. So, this action that produced Ishmael would have seemed to them to fulfill God’s promise. And they lived that way for another dozen years, satisfied that Ishmael was God’s plan for them. But he was not.
A Change of Plans
When Abraham was 99, and Sarah was 89, God told Abraham that Sarah would have a child. And it would be this child, not Ishmael, through whom God would fulfill his promise to Abraham. God’s plan for Abraham and Sarah did not make sense to Abraham. Initially, he tried to hold on to his own idea of what God wanted. But he trusted God and was blessed with Isaac, the child of promise.
How often do we find ourselves confronted with what Abraham experienced here? Confident we are where God wants us to be and serving faithfully. But then God directs us elsewhere. It may be that we were never where God wanted us. Or it may just be a new direction. But we struggle with it. Life is good now. Can I trust God in this new direction? Is this really where he wants me to go now?
Abraham struggled with what God was telling him. But he accepted it and was blessed. The same will be true for us. We will be blessed if we follow our Lord’s leading, even when it seems impossible or challenging. And we will experience God’s best for us when we do.
