Never Anticipate God's Timing

UV 3469/10000 Never Anticipate God's Timing
Sarah said, “God has made me laugh; all who hear (about our good news) will laugh with me.”
Genesis 21 v 6

God is good and He desires to see us laughing and joyful. The Servant Leader, Jesus, the Son of God is likewise desirous of seeing His followers cheerful, glad and joyful. Unlike all other leaders who want their followers to make them happy, the Servant Leader turned leadership back on its feet by seeking the well being and happiness of His followers. The serpent leader, in contrast is sadistic and finds pleasure in the sorrow of people. The Lord answers our prayers so that our joy is full, not incomplete. He removed Abraham and Sarah’s sorrow of not having a son, an heir by blessing them with the promised son Isaac.

Sarah doubted the promise. The serpent leader induced her to offer her maid as a surrogate mother to Abraham. That action of anticipating the timing of the goodness and answer of God led to much distress in the household of Abraham. It led to bickering, to quarrels, to bitterness, to conflicts. Abraham began to look upon Ishmael his son as his heir. It made Sarah, the very one to start it all, jealous, insecure, unhappy. After the birth of the promised son, Isaac in due time or God’s time, it led to an unhealthy sibling rivalry. Sarah was upset that Ishmael mocked Isaac and that Ishmael would share the inheritance with Isaac. The serpent leader divides our hearts and minds and Abraham’s heart was torn between loyalty to his wife and affection for his son Ishmael.

The sibling rivalry, the rivalry between Sarah and Ishmael altered the course of the history of the Middle East and thereby, that of the world. The twelve chiefs and their descendants born to Ishmael set up camp opposite camp of the descendants of Isaac. Ishmael grew up bitter and insecure not having the assurance, comfort and security of the love of his father. Expelled from his first home, he grew up wild and unruly like most of the children who grow up in broken homes in the West or for that matter in any part of the world. Scripture records the history of the Middle East since then as “ The hand of Ishmael turned against his brothers and his brothers hands turned against him.”