He is Able

God promised Abraham a son in his old age.  His covenant with Abraham would ensure him more descendants than can be counted.  As if that were not impossible enough, this son would be born of Sarah, his very old and life-long barren wife.  Their son was to be named Isaac.

In an effort to facilitate God's plan, Ishmael was conceived.  This was Abraham's first son but not the promised son.  Ishmael was conceived with Hagar, the Egyptian slave, not Sarah.  Abraham loved Ishmael very much and in verse 18 of Genesis 17, he expresses a longing for his manmade plan to be acceptable to God.  He wished Ishmael would be that promised son, perhaps because he loved Ishmael so much, or maybe because it was easier and already set.  I personally think Abraham allowed doubt in the promise to run through his mind.

But God had already made a very specific promise and He did not need any manipulative help from humans to make that promise happen.  If anything they sort of botched it up and complicated things.  God would still bless them with the birth of Isaac and all the generations to come but now there were consequences.

Whenever we take matters into our own hands instead of trusting in the promises God has for us, we lose in some way.  God doesn't expect us to sit back and wait for things to come.  We are usually expected to do something in our capacity even if that is simply to have faith.  Abraham and Sarah had a part to play (ahem) in this conceiving-a-child-thing but they missed the mark when they brought a younger womb into the mix.  In other words, they didn't trust God enough to fulfill the promise completely

God's ways are always better than ours.  Many times they take longer than we would like and sometimes they come through in a very roundabout way (usually a result of our own meddling).  Lots of times they come packaged very differently than the expectation.  But they are always better than we could ever have imagined.  I have heard this countless times in testimonies; how God exceeds expectations when trust is finally put in Him.

What's the key here?  Very simple.  To surrender and trust God.  His plans are always better than ours.

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."
Ephesians 3:20

❤️lina