The Drive-By Birthed an Ishmael

 Abraham’s flesh took over as he could not possibly see how the LORD would create as many offspring as the stars in the sky thus fulfill His promise that from Abraham a great nation would be birthed.  Abraham heard God’s promise but rather than waiting on the LORD’S ways, he took matters into his own hands.  Since his wife Sarah was not getting pregnant, he slept with her maidservant, Hagar.  They had a son, Ishmael.  So Ishmael was born from Abraham’s flesh and his lack of faith. 

Through the mighty work of God's own hand and in His timing, Abraham had another son, Isaac.  This son was not born from Abraham’s fleshly efforts…he just believed and his faith was credited to him as righteousness.  Isaac was the son born to Abraham who God promised to him.  In the same way Ishmael represents the flesh, Isaac represents the Spirit.  These boys were a foreshadow of our constant battle between the flesh and Spirit.    

Why am I saying all of this?  My friend gave me an audio cd by Chuck Missler called LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS and I am listening to it.  (Thanks again, Melissa and if you are interested, you can click here to see the link for the book.)  It goes into detail about how the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament and how the New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament.  It’s WAY cool!!

I shared this small portion because I started thinking of it as it applies to my life.  I’m wondering how many “Ishmaels” I have birthed while waiting for the “Isaacs” God has promised me!! 

I go back and forth just like any child of God living in a fallen world.  We constantly battle the flesh as we long to keep in step with the Spirit. 

We are STILL waiting to hear final confirmation that our home loan refinance has been approved.  (For those just joining, we are in process to fund our adoption of twin baby girls from Haiti and we have applied for this home loan refinance to supply the funds we need to proceed with the adoption.)  We’ve had very encouraging news about the loan and as far as we’ve been told we are just waiting for a “drive-by.”  What’s a drive-by?!  The only drive-by I’m aware of deals with killing people and so for a second I thought we were going to have to call the whole deal off.  My loan officer knows how important this loan is to us but at this point we would have to draw the line.  Turns out this is a different type of “drive-by” and thankfully would not involve anyone shooting out our windows.  In real estate lingo, a “drive-by” is simply an appraiser driving by the home to confirm the estimate of the given appraisal.  That was a relief to discover.  As soon as this is complete we should be closing possibly Monday or Tuesday.  God is at work! 

This is silly nonsense but since it illustrates how I fed the flesh over walking by the Spirit, I will share. 

After the “drive-by” was ordered yesterday I went into control mode.  I began thinking of ways to make sure the outside of the house would be presentable in a way that gives the appraiser who will be driving by no reason to find our appraisal inaccurate.  Trey had recently mowed our weeds in the front yard so that was good.  When the weeds are mowed, the yard looks very much like cut grass.  However, our weed eater has been broken for some time now, resulting in some long unsightly weeds bordering the yard which are impossible for Trey to reach with the mower. 

In the midst of control mode I got myself all hot and sweaty as I went outside yesterday evening to hand pull these weeds.  Despite wearing gloves, I ended up with a blister on my middle finger of my right hand, covered in beggar lice (you know those little furry type sticker burs) and my legs were eaten up by mosquitoes.  Do I really think the absence of those few weeds I pulled will change the appraiser’s confirmation of the value of our home?  It’s kind of comical now that I’ve had a shower, pulled all of the beggar lice out of the green sundress I was wearing, and the itchiness from the mosquito bites have faded. 

That is what I call birthing an “Ishmael.”  (My camera is on loan to some friends who are currently in Haiti or right here I would have posted a picture of the pile of weeds I pulled...the outcome of birthing my Ishmael.  I can tell you it was a grand pile of ugliness!) 

I’m sure the time I spent pulling the weeds would have been far better used in prayer.  It’s not that we should sit and do nothing, but my point is that it’s not going to be by our striving and fleshly abilities that creates our desired outcomes. 

Weeds or no weeds, God is in control. 

I’m not going to pull any more weeds, I’m going to pray and wait for my “Isaac” to be born.  

May God receive all glory!