We want to give birth to an Isaac
1st of May
I can almost see the question marks in the faces of some of you. What is she thinking about now? Is she suggesting a name for our boys? I am a man and I can’t give birth to a child. Where are you heading? I will explain, but first I want us to look up Genesis the 16th chapter. I think that you should read the entire chapter. It is about Abram’s wife Sarai who was old and childless. She had a maidservant with the name of Hagar and she wanted her husband to be with her in order for her to give her husband a child. I believe that this is a very strange way of thinking for us today. The mere thought of a husband having an intimate relationship with another woman is strange and I would say sinful. It doesn’t seem to be any connection between this way of thinking and the words of Jesus saying that whoever looks at a woman to lust her has already committed adultery.(Matt.5:28) Abram had an intimate relationship with Hagar and she became pregnant. Hagar started to despise Sarai when she discovered that she was pregnant and Sarai’s pain over her barrenness grew. She dealt harshly with her maidservant and Hagar flew, but the Angel of the Lord found her and talked to her. He asked her to return to Sarai and she was told to call the child Ishmael. He would become the ancestor to a huge family.
We will continue to the next chapter. It starts with the fact that the Lord appeared to Abram who was ninety-nine years of age at that time. The Lord said to him: “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly. As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations, No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. As for you, you shall deep My covenant you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.” The Lord continued to give instructions about the circumcision and He promised Sarai a son. She should be called Sarah. She really didn’t believe that she could become pregnant and she laughed. The Lord said that her son should be called Isaac. Sarah was rebuked for her laughter and she denied that she had laughed in unbelief. I think that more of us would have laughed if we were told that we should be with children in the age of ninety. That was too old even at that time. The thing that cannot excuse her laughter is that it was the Lord that said that she would have a child and we all know that what He says, so it will be. I really believe that He wanted then and wants now to get us out of our natural thinking. He Who has created us is indeed able to make something extra ordinary. He has created the norm and He can make exceptional rules. Sarah became an extra ordinary case. She gave birth to a son, Isaac. I believe that we will see many more supernatural happenings in the future, happenings that are run by the Creator, God the Almighty.
The relationship between Sarah and Hagar was not very good. Hagar and Ismael were finally sent away from Abraham. He thought that was difficult since he was the father to Ishmael. God agreed to the arrangement, but He took care of Hagar and her son. He promised Ishmael to be the father of a huge family. Ishmael grew up in the wilderness and became an archer. He married an Egyptian woman.
I seriously believe that there will be a problem when a man has more than one wife and I believe that we will have problems if we are helping God instead of waiting for His promises and solutions.
Ishmael is to me a symbol of self-made solutions. He was son of Abraham and he was a child, but he was not conceived in a right way. Sarai might have thought that she was kind when she gave her servant to her husband, but it was a misunderstood kindness. I have heard of many people who got great problems because they were kind. I believe that the Holy Spirit asks us to be true more than being kind. It is not divine to tell people that it doesn’t matter to lie a little or fool around with another woman. We must dare to say that sin is sin. We must not be so kind that we take away hell and say that everyone is blessed in their own conviction.
When are we most tempted to make an Ishmael? I believe that is when we are tired and find it difficult to wait. I have said earlier that many have waited for years. They have had dreams and they start doubting if they really were from God and if they ever will come true. When the prayer-answer is very close, we are most prone to give up and start on an Ishmael.
Do not allow yourself to be tempted by the devil. He is a liar.
I want to encourage you to continue to pray and to continue to stand on the promises of God. He is always doing what He has promised even if we think He might come late. His timing is not always the same as ours. I recently heard a man say that if you have stopped praying before you had the answer, continue where you stopped. You do not need to start from the beginning. If the “embryo” is seven month’s old, we do not need to start from the time of conception.
Have you heard about God’s ideas and good ideas? It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the two. Good ideas can become an Ishmael. Good ideas are often mixed with our own ideas. I was recently at a meeting where a prophet warned one in the audience. He said that one had been to a business meeting that very day and the deal sounded god, but only half of the truth had been told. The Lord isn’t always so clear and we must live close to Him in order to know. God will forgive us if we make mistakes, but we could have been saved a lot of problems. An Ishmael will often create a problem.
We read in Is.28:16 that the one who believes, is not in a hurry. It can take a lot of faith and patience to give birth to an Isaac. It can actually seem impossible. Sarah was ninety when she gave birth, but others can have other problems than age. Haven’t you read that nothing is impossible for God? That is written several times in the Bible. He has no limitations and He is more eager to give birth to the seeds that He has planted within you than you are yourself. He doesn’t put His seed in you without doing everything He can to see the result. He has opened a barren woman and He can open closed doors. Read Exodus 6:6-8 and Isaiah 45. Here we see that it is the Lord Who is doing the difficult things. He wants to help us getting rid of problems and obstacles. He will open closed doors. We are just supposed to follow Him.
We are sometimes supposed to have passive expectations and other times we are supposed to be active in the birth-process. The Holy Spirit will help us in deciding when to do what. No matter where we are in the process, we can always thank Him for the invisible “child”.
BE PATIENT AND WAIT FOR AN ISAAC!
Mother Else