Joel M Bradshaw

16I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”–Genesis 17, with emphasis

God had just renamed Abram from “exalted father” to “father of a multitude.” It was a lot to take in. So Abraham laughed and then spoke words to himself. In the next chapter Sarah will laugh and God will make mention of it. But here Abraham laughed first. No wonder the child would be named Yitzhak, “he laughs’.

Abraham’s heart went to Ishmael and he verbally prayed for him. God heard that prayer and promised to make Ishmael great. But God’s covenant would be with Abraham through Sarah and starting with their future son Isaac, not Ishmael.

I know the text says “regarding Ishmael,” but the God who heard Abraham’s spoken prayer was certainly able to also hear his unspoken thoughts about Sarah and the future. I always remember Sarah laughing, but it stood out to me this morning for the first time that Abraham laughed first. And God heard Abraham and told him so. I would have felt convicted in that moment regarding my laughter, especially if I had just believed and had it credited to me as righteousness.

Yesterday, Hagar proclaimed the God who sees. God presented himself to Abraham as the God who hears. This is comforting, but it can also be convicting.

Do your thoughts match your words? We all have great moments of spoken faith, but inside do we doubt, worry, and question? At the self-talk level are you maintaining the story that God will accomplish his plan or another more self-centered story?–JMB