You didn't interview for this calling. God chose you!

  Read Genesis 21

Isaac was weaned and grew and all was well in Abraham’s family.  That is, except for Ishmael.  The text said that he mocked Isaac.  Surely there was contempt for this younger son.  Ishmael was going to be the heir and then he wasn’t.

Ishmael was big news and then he wasn’t.  Everything was focused on Isaac now and Ishmael didn’t like it.  Again, Sarah went to Abraham and insisted that he get rid of Hagar and Ismael.

This distressed Abraham.  The last time that he sent Hagar away, Ishmael was still a bun in the oven.  This time, he had come to know his son.  Ishmael was Abraham’s son.  He was not the son through whom God would fulfill his promises, but still, he was Abraham’s son.

Abraham had dissonance.  He wanted to honor his wife—who by the way instigated this whole kid by the maidservant business—and he loved his son.  His heart and mind were surely in turmoil.  How would he figure this out?

But God told Abraham not to be worried.  God would take care of Hagar and Ishmael.  God would make Ishmael into a nation.

God told Abraham to go ahead and do what Sarah asked of him.  Hagar and her son were sent packing with some provisions.  Abraham put those provisions on her shoulders, so they must have been more than what you would take for a day, but she would have to find some way of sustaining herself and her son.

Today, we have what’s called long-range patrol rations.  You can get several days of generally lightweight food and carry it on your back, but water is the real logistics factor.  A human can only carry so much water.

The two went as far as the water would take them and then mom was ready to throw in the towel and die.  She put her son in the shade and went a short distance away because she could not watch her son die.  Both cried.

God heard them.

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar?”

Don’t you just love it when the angel acts like he doesn’t know what is going on?

“Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

And God sent them on their way and said, Good Luck, Kid. Well not exactly.

God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

God was with Ishmael as he grew up.  We don’t get much of that story, only that mom found him a wife from Egypt.  If you were hoping for some wild donkey-of-a-man stories, we just don’t get them.

We do read about Ishmael one more time in Genesis.  He comes for his father’s funeral.  That part rings true more often than not today.

How many people—family and friends—do you only see at funerals these days?

This is not the first time that an angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar in the wilderness.  Previously, the angel sent Hagar back to Sarah and told Hagar that she—through the son she carried—would have many descendants.

During this wilderness encounter with the angel, Hagar is again promised that the Lord will make Ishmael into a nation.  They would not die of thirst or hunger in the desert.

Why did God have mercy on these 2 people?  Why are they part of the story?  We don’t hear from Ishmael after Abraham’s funeral.

Why did the Lord give so much attention to Ishmael?

It was because he was Abraham’s son.  We have seen God bless Abraham with riches even when his behavior didn’t really bring glory to God.

We have seen God give Abraham an impossible victory over 4 undefeated armies with only 318 men, even though we have no evidence that Abraham was a brilliant military commander.

We see Mechezideck bless Abraham on behalf of the Most High God and we see God credit this knucklehead with righteousness for his faith even though we have many examples of Abraham acting in accordance with his own understanding instead of trusting God.

We have seen God bless Abraham as the Father of many nations—most of that’s still very much in the future—but he did it in spite of Abraham’s knuckleheadedness.

But God did not kick Abraham to the curb and find someone more qualified.  God chose Abraham and God’s plans would be fulfilled through Abraham.

And many blessings flowed from being associated with Abraham.  God sent a rescue team to retrieve Lot and his family from Sodom.

God rescued Abraham’s older son from dying in the desert.

God blessed Abraham’s older son and made him into a nation.

The recurring theme here is Abraham.  God chose Abraham and many blessings proceeded from Abraham. These were not because Abraham was such a stellar performer.  He was not, but he was God’s choice.

That’s good news for some of us whom God has chosen for different things.  If God has called you to something, he will bless you when you respond.

Now if God calls you to something and you make a mess of so many things, remember, God still chose you.  Don’t throw in the towel.  Let God work in your messiness.

We have all fallen short of God’s glory, and guess what?  It’s likely going to happen again, and again, but when God picks you, chooses you, calls you to his purpose, he sticks with you, even in your messiness.

So if God called you to preach or sing or teach or cook or clean or hand out gospels or greet people when they come in the building and you forgot or lost your temper or just did something really stupid, or you just thought what you were doing was not that important, remember that God called you.  He chose you.

Not everything that God chose you to do has to do with a Sunday morning or a Wednesday evening.  He planned much for you to to well before you became a new creation.  Some of that is in your home.  Some at your job.  Some is at Walmart, which for some of you may be both your home and job.

He may have even placed a spiritual gift in you and if you would trust God and quit fighting the Spirit that he placed inside of you, you might move out of your messiness into fruitful ministry.

The lesson for today is don’t ever give up if it is God who has called you or chosen you to do something.  He will stick with you even in your mistakes.  He will stay with you and you will accomplish his purpose.

If God is for us—and he is—who can be against us?

If God called you or chose you, why fight against it?  Why be God’s consultant when he already knows what you are called to do?

I have shared this Corrie ten Boom quote before, but I think it appropriate to share it again.

“Don't bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.”

If God has chosen you for a purpose, don’t argue with God.  Don’t try to convince him that someone else would be a better choice.  Don’t say you are not qualified.  Qualification is not relevant if God has picked you himself.

There’s a mantra that’s a little on the simplistic side, but is worth considering from time to time.  What that?

God does not call the qualified.

He qualifies those he calls.

Too simple, perhaps, but worth some thought.

Don’t tell God that you keep making a mess of things.  Just report for duty and then have eyes to see how God blesses so many through what he chose you to do.

God chose you.  Just report for duty.

Amen.