The Wonderer

“No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” – Genesis 15:4

“…Get rid of [your] son.  He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac.  I won’t have it!” – Genesis 21:10

In the book of Genesis God tells Abraham that he will be the “father of many nations” (Genesis 17:4).  He goes on to tell him that even in their old age, it will be him and his wife, not his servant, that parents these nations.  However, as Abraham and his wife surpass the ages of child bearing, they take matters into their own hands.  Abraham fathers a child with his servant Hagar; they name him Ishmael.  Him and his mother are later sent away, never to be a part of the nations God intended for Abraham.  However, because he is the son of Abraham, God promises to make a separate nation of his descendants also.

It’s hard to explain to some people how important it is to look to God for guidance and when things do not happen when YOU want them to, just keep waiting.  We live in a world and time of “right now.”  We have microwaves because not everyone has time for an oven.  We have faster internet to get what we need faster.  We even have electric can opens, hammers, drills, and more because doing it manually takes too long.  What would happen if we just waited on God?  I can say from experience that impatience does not pay off.  Impatience with your children doesn’t feel good after the fact, impatience on the road only leads to accidents, and impatience in relationships only leads to unhappiness.

Abraham and Sarah’s impatience led to a son that ended up a little on the abandon side…a wonderer.

“Call me Ishmael” (Melville 18).   Some of the most famous words in American fiction.  Before I had even read Moby-Dick I had heard those words.  Why was he a wonderer?  Why was suicide so high on his list of priorities?  What was he running from?  While some compare him to Biblical Ishmael or Jonah, I’d probably compare him more to Abraham himself.  Ishmael (from Moby-Dick) was the one with an inner battle.  His faith did not rest in Christ, it rested in himself.  Just like Abraham, when he (Ishmael) lost sight of what God had for him, he lost who he was and took matters into his own hands.  He (Ishmael) with suicidal thoughts, became a sailor in search of whales instead of turning back to what was truly in store for him (whatever that may have been.)