Life's Inanities and Ironies

In the pages of Scripture, we find stories that are not just historical accounts but living words that speak to our hearts today. Genesis 21:9-21 , the story of Hagar and Ishmael ’s expulsion into the wilderness, is one such passage. It reveals the unchanging truth of God’s sovereignty , compassion, and faithfulness, even in the midst of human conflict and despair. As believers who hold fast to the inerrancy of God’s Word , let us dive into this text to uncover its timeless lessons for our lives. A Family Divided: The Context of Genesis 21 The story begins in the household of Abraham , the father of our faith, whose obedience to God is a model for us all ( Heb. 11:8 ). Yet, even Abraham’s family was not immune to the effects of sin. Sarah , seeing Ishmael , the son of Hagar, mocking Isaac , the child of God’s promise, demands their expulsion: “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac” ( Gen. 21:10 ). This is a heart-wre...

“ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-7) The words of Jeremiah ring as true today as they did in the days of old. God sets before us a stark contrast: two paths, two choices, two destinies. One is the way of the man who trusts in flesh, whose heart departs from the Lord. The other is the way of the man whose hope is the Lord, rooted in His eternal strength. These are not mere words—they are a...