Transforming Relationships (3)

Anneta Pinto-Young 3 Minutes
“So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it”” (Genesis 21:10).

After the fall of Adam, we read about his descendants up to Noah. Mankind multiplied and there was evil on the land. “So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart” (Genesis 6:6). God decided to wipe away everything that he created from the face of the earth. “But Noah found favor with the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). God’s redemptive plan was to start over with someone faithful and he confirmed his creation covenant with Noah. Abram descended from the line of Shem and God established a covenant with him. He was called to leave his family and journey with God to a new country.

The promise was that his family would be blessed and he would be the father of many nations. The one challenge was that Abram was still not a father in his eighties, but his wife Sarai had a proposal. She convinced Abram to lie with her servant Hagar, so that they could produce a heir. Like Adam, Abram listened to his wife and Hagar conceived Ishmael. Trouble soon started as Hagar treated Sarai with contempt and she blamed Abram for this outcome. He reminded her that Hagar was her servant and she treated her harshly until Hagar ran away. “The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority”” (Genesis 16:9). The angel told Hagar that her son would be called Ishmael. He would be wild and would be in conflicts with everyone, and live in open hostility against his relatives.

God reconfirmed his covenant to Abram and his name was changed to Abraham. Sarai was now Sarah and God revealed that they would have a son and call his name Isaac. Sarah conceived and gave birth to Isaac and Hagar and Ishmael made fun of him. Sarah demanded that Abraham get rid of Ishmael and determined that he would not share in his inheritance. Although it displeased Abraham, God confirmed that he needed to listen to Sarah. Ishmael and his mother were sent away and God promised that a nation would be created by him. This was another messy family situation that was created through impatience. Sarah wavered at the promises of God and decided to take matters into her own hands.

Abraham did not waver, yet he listened to his wife. Once the challenges started with the servant, Sarah blamed Abraham. Their disobedience created a child who would be at odds with his relatives for life. Ishmael had to deal with growing up without a father and was not allowed to benefit from Abraham’s inheritance. A child cast away and abandoned by his father’s family, because of the conflicts with his step mother. There are many people who are the result of blended families, children born through extra marital affairs and children who were raised by step parents after divorce or death.

Many children have experienced difficult family dynamics, from being a half sibling and feeling less entitled to the family inheritance. Many step parents have abused children born from previous relationships or from affairs. Nevertheless, God is gracious and he also made a covenant promise to Ishmael. “Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants” (Genesis 21:18). Your end is far greater than your beginning and although your family circumstances may have been challenging, God has a covenant promise for you. “then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you” (Deuteronomy 30:3).

A.P.-Y.

Published by Anneta Pinto-Young

I am a trained Social Worker who currently provides professional leadership on a programme to support Social Work students and Newly Qualified Social Workers entering the Social Work Profession. Born and raised in Jamaica in a Christian family where my father is an ordained Pastor and Deacon who has served for over 50 years in the ministry. My father is also a trained musician and our family can be described as a musical family. I grew up in a small farming community in St. Peter’s, St. Andrew and my parents also have a small farm. I credit my gift of writing to my father who I watched and listened to over the years as he wrote sermons, poems and other recitals in his capacity in ministry. English has always been an easy subject for me and over the years I have developed an increased interest in writing. I am a Trainer, I sing and have a passion for worship, the spoken word and the free flow of the prophetic anointing. I am married to my best friend Andrew Christopher Young who is an advanced Musician and whose music you can find on YouTube and Facebook. I am a trained Coach and Mentor and I love experimenting with food so I love cooking. I enjoy trying cultural dishes from across the world and I view food as an entry into cultures and languages.

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20 thoughts on “Transforming Relationships (3)”

  1. I was just talking to the Lord about this at tge beginning of my quiet time. That all families have dysfunction. Yes we must create healthy boundaries especially for those who are unrepentant and have a penchant for evil. However, we must also pray for them and love them albeit from a distance. If we place our feet down firmly, it will take some time but change will come.

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    1. Amen 🙏🏾. Imagine Abraham having to send away his son, and God actually sanctioned this. It was either hold unto him and maintain the tensions and conflicts in his home, or let him go and have peace. He was about 16, so in some ways he had developed some identify and stability, but still it was moving away from his father and the family he knew. If our right arm offended us then cut it off right. ☺️🥰😘

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      1. Yes! We don’t always understand or agree with God’s moves. But God doesn’t need either of those from us, He requires our cooperation. In essence that’s faith and works isn’t it? We don’t understand nor do we agree but we obey based on the character of the One Who gave the instruction.

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    1. Amen 🙏🏾. The past is an ugly and difficult situation for many people. We don’t live in and dwell on the past, but like Jacob, there are things that we have to wrestle and contend with, in order to be restored. ❤️🙏🏾Bless you.

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  3. “Your end is far greater than your beginning and although your family circumstances may have been challenging, God has a covenant promise for you.”
    Thank you for this eternal encouraging reminder Anneta to keep on keeping on until He takes us Home.

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  4. The child may be rejected by those who are closest to him or her, but God will always love that child, and call them to himself.
    Psalm 27:10
    When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

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