GOD HEARD THE BOY CRYING

And as she sat over against him, the child lifted up his voice and wept.  And God heard the voice of the lad (Genesis 21:16b-17a).

It is said that back in the 1920's Ernest Hemmingway bet ten dollars that he could write a novel with just six words.  Some have called these six words his best work: For sale: baby shoes, never worn. This is proof that a compelling story doesn't have to be long.  Five words from the Bible that rival Hemmingway's six are the NIV translation of Genesis 2:17: God heard the boy crying.  What powerful stories are imagined in the theater of the mind because of these few words.

Ishmael was a boy who was rejected by his father.  He, along with his mother, was abandoned by his father in a desolate wilderness with less than enough to survive.  They were about to die.  Ishmael was an illegitimate son, born of human will rather than God's.  Perhaps human history would have been much better if Ishmael were allowed to die.  Ishmael and his mother had no claim on God's mercy, but in their hour of desperation, God pours out his mercy on them.

Ishmael's story is our story: remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:12-13).  No matter who we are or what we have done, God has reached out to all in Christ Jesus providing for salvation.  In whatever circumstance you find yourself today, God loves you and is working to give you what is best if you cry out to him.

Grace&Peace;
Tom