Split Decision

A promise is a promise.

The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt. - Genesis 21:1-21

I wonder if God regretted having made a promise to Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham is credited with being the father of our faith because he was the first to believe in the one true God, and yet from the very beginning, there was a split.  From Abraham would rise two nations not one.

God promised Sarah a child of her own, and that cause her to reject the child Abraham had with her slave, Hagar.  

God extended his promise of a great nation to both sons, and the schism in faith was born.

The message I get from this is that God is more flexible than we are at times.  He can change his mind, even when we believe His convictions are firm.

Did He not know that the descendants of Isaac and Ismael would become enemies?

Do you ever wonder why God puts up with us?  

He knows we are going to screw up, and yet He continues to help, trying to make us better.  He even came down to be one of us to try to teach us how we can make this life of ours better for ourselves.

We are a stubborn lot, aren't we?

We would rather fight one another than show love for each other.

Thank God He doesn't leave us to our own devices, or surely we would never survive.

More to come...