Isaac is growing up. He is weaned. He’s still a little boy, and Ishmael is now a teenager. Sarah sees that Hagar doesn’t respect Isaac and asks Abraham to send her away. God tells Abraham to listen to Sarah. His heart is still attached to his firstborn, Ishmael, but his line needs to come through Isaac. God confirms that yet again.

God also confirms that because of the promise to Abraham about his children multiplying, Ishmael will also be multiplied into a great nation. However, it’s not long before Ishmael and Hagar are in trouble. They are dying of thirst. The teenager is so near death that his mother needs to lay him down. She hides him out of the sun and out of her sight, placing him under a bush.

She’s crying, but the Lord says that He hears Ishmael crying and responds to his cries. God saves Ishmael. He provides water, and Hagar is able to give him a drink and sustain him. He marries and has several children. He grows into a people that will be against the nation of Israel. Muslims see Abraham as their spiritual father through the lineage of the Arabs and Ishmael.

Yet, God saves him. God’s salvation is for everyone. For God so loved the whole world that He gave His son (John 3:16). God’s desire is that all be saved. He wants everyone to know the truth, to know Him (1 Timothy 2:4).

Our good Father knows when even a sparrow falls from a tree. (Matthew 10:29) He cares much more about people. Yes, He loves His chosen children Israel and would do anything for them within His good character.

But He also loves people. He created them. In that way, He is Father to them all. He spoke each into being. He planned them each. He formed them in the womb (Psalm 139). He has shown Himself to everyone, for all of nature declares His existence (Romans 1:20).

From the amazing expanse of the universe to the power of storms to the intricacies of how the body works to the patterns in nature and the mystery of life and reproduction, it’s all supernatural. Science, just little by little, is learning about the amazingness of God’s creation, admitting in every field that there is so much we just don’t know. It’s all so much bigger than human understanding and possibility.

He has been showing Himself to you. Are you paying attention?