What an interesting thing... (Gen 16)

"The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery."
(Gen 16)

What an interesting thing..
Ishmael means "God hears."

The name was given by God to the consequence of Abraham"s and Sarah"s efforts to force the hand of God.. to take control of their fate as though they were God.. Sarah sent her maid servant in to Abraham to have the child of Promise that God had said he would give them. Rather than waiting on God to send the child as he chose.. by means of the miracle of Sarah's conception with Isaac in God's timing.

The culmination was this moment where everyone involved was hurting and the entire situation was a mess.. the epitome of going our own way, living according to the flesh rather than being led by the Spirit of God, thinking we are God just because the favor of God rests on us, and the misery that ensues from such arrogance and pride and sin.

Why did God name the consequence of their sin Ishmael, "God hears?"

Because God heard of their misery, the mess that they had made.

Why were they in such extreme misery that the Almighty God of the Universe had to respond in mercy?"

Because they had gone their own way.

And that my friends.. is the reason the world is so full of misery and mess.. because we, you and I, keep living according to the flesh in our pride rather than being led by the Spirit of God.. we think we are God just because the favor of God rests on us. Every evil thing in this world is our fault.. mankind had authority, Adam had authority, each of us has authority because Christ redeemed it back for us.. and yet, we so often continue to go our own way.

God hears of our misery.. as we choose to go the way of Ishmael (the flesh).. and his response is the same each time.. mercy.

And he continues to fight for us.. to restore us to the way of Isaac (to Christ).. not to do it all for us.. but to redeem our authority over the sin in the world and in ourselves. There is a mess to clean up, and God is active in it.. he has come to be with us so that he can walk us through the clean up of what he has restored to us. Jesus became a man to win back our authority, and to show us how to walk this life out... our example.

We live as flesh and as spirit.. mankind chose to be his own God and Satan lied to him that he could show him how.. Christ has come to restore truth in the earth that there is only one God.. that he loves us, that he created us as flesh and as spirit.. and that if we will let him lead us in what is right and good, there is an eternity of love and acceptance and forgiveness and blessing waiting for us..

as children of the One True God.

Pride makes us want control.
Pride makes us want to be God.
But we can't be who we are not.
We are not God.

We are sheep, he is the good shepard.
We are branches, he is the vine.
We are children, he is Father.
We are the bride (helper), he is the Bridegroom.

Sin hasn't changed it's face since the beginning.
From Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Sarah, to You and I.
It will always result in misery and mess.

God hasn't changed his face since the beginning of the world.
God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
He will always respond with love and mercy coupled with the authority of holiness and justice.

But we can change...
we get to choose whether to change...
Christ has made a way.

It is a gift from God.