Is Ishmael Blocking Your Isaac?

“The LORD said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count he stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” Genesis 15:4-5

God promised Abraham a son of his own to be his heir with descendants as numerous as the stars. Genesis 15:6 tells us Abraham believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. Oh the faith of Abraham! God sees into the heart of every man and God cannot be fooled. Therefore, we know Abraham truly believed this. However, God did not tell him how or when this would happen.

Abraham could only see the possibilities in front of him as a human. His wife, Sarah, had been unable to conceive for several decades and ten additional years had passed since God first established this covenant with Abraham. God had kept His word to settle Abraham in the land but Abraham did not yet have a son. Have you ever had to wait ten years for something you wanted so badly? We are an impatient people and it does not take long for doubt to creep in. The enemy’s words to Eve begin to ring in our ears, “Did God REALLY say that?”

What do we do when we don’t see fulfillment of God’s promise in our expected time frame?

We start filling in the blank space with our own desires rather than leaning on the promises of God. Before we know it, we have an expectation as to how and when God will do something. Then, when reality looks different than this self-conceived expectation, we start to believe God has forgotten us. We may even wonder if WE missed a step and start looking for ways to control the narrative.

Sarah is often blamed for being impatient and taking matters into her own hands by giving Hagar to Abraham to conceive a son. Remember, however, Sarah had not been promised anything at this point in time, only Abraham. We can assume Abraham had told Sarah of the promise God made but imagine how Sarah likely felt without any mention of her name in this promise. We know God was referring to Sarah as we know the rest of the story and she was Abraham’s wife (God does not condone infidelity) but she is not specifically mentioned as of this point in time.

God made a covenant with Abraham and guaranteed him countless descendants. However, He did not give Abraham any further details at that time. Abraham was to trust God had a way, living by faith as the assurance of things hoped for but not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1).

“I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!” Genesis 17:6

God does not specifically name Sarah as the mother of Abraham’s promised son until Genesis 17:16, which was not until AFTER Ishmael was already born. God is not unclear, however, and further clarifies in verse 19: But God replied, “No – Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.” Genesis 17:19

Abraham’s only responsibility was to obey the terms of the covenant (Genesis 17:9). The rest was up to God.

This last conversation happened when Ishmael was 13 years old. Abraham specifically asked if God was going to bless Ishmael and God agreed to bless him BUT God was very clear Isaac was to be the child of the promise.

All those years of waiting and the promise was still not visible to Abraham’s human eyes. Both Abraham and Sarah are getting older, approaching 100 and the idea of having a child seemed impossible… BUT GOD!

Have you been there? Waiting on something you were so sure God had for you but you still haven’t seen it? Perhaps you’ve received confirmation but are still waiting. I’ve been there and it’s a frustrating place to be.

As we read further in this story we find God does bless Abraham with a child through Sarah and Isaac is born. God eventually keeps His promise to make Abraham the father of many nations through Isaac but Abraham and Sarah do not see this portion of the promise fulfilled in their lifetime.

“All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.” Hebrews 11:13

Abraham and Sarah initially tried to fulfill God’s promise through Ishmael. But God said he was not the one. Have you ever tried to fulfill a promise from God through an Ismael in your life? Perhaps you were tired of waiting and took matters into your own hands by holding onto an Ishmael. Anytime we try to contort what God has promised into our present circumstances, we attempt to bend God to our will and find ourselves disappointed.

Holding onto desires of the flesh verses waiting for God’s promises.

Our version of Ishmael can come in many forms. It could be the high paying job that satisfies the greed of the flesh but gives no peace, or the relationship that lacks spiritual connection yet seems better than being alone. These things almost fit but not quite. If we really step back and examine our Ishmael tendencies we find they are lacking something, usually that aspect our spirit craves most. Why? Because they are not the promise.

If we are not cautious, we can find ourselves clinging tightly to an Ishmael where God has promised an Isaac. We try to force God’s promise into the box we have already set aside for it resolving to make it fit rather than being open to the unexpected. Ishmael’s tend to fulfill the longings of our flesh whereas Isaac’s fulfill the longings of our spirit. It can be hard to let go of the Ishmael’s in our life as it seems we will be empty handed, but that is exactly what God is waiting for – empty hands open and uplifted to receive His promises. We can be so focused on receiving the gift of the promise that we forget who the promise-keeper is and what HE is capable of. Lord, may we always set our hearts on receiving you more than our self-conceived desires of the flesh.