Into the wilderness

 

When our firstborn was born, I was still in my final years of grad school. Though my husband and I were both very busy working on our careers, we looked forward to coming home and spending time with our precious little girl. It was incredibly helpful to have my parents to help us.

She was two years old when I was preparing for my big state licensure exam. I was juggling parenting while trying to put in the hours of studying. My parents were going on vacation and offered to take our little girl so I could focus solely on my studies. It was hard to send her away, but I knew I needed to do that in order to have more time to prepare for the exam.

The first few nights were the hardest.

My husband and I would glance at her little toddler bed and toys, while I silently wept. We missed her so much. However, having her away for that week or so was just what I needed to move forward and pass my exam.

This part of our life reminded me of Abraham from the Old Testament.

Abraham had two sons: Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was the son born from the slave woman, Hagar, while Isaac was the promised child born to Sarah, his wife. As the boys were growing up, Sarah noticed that Ishmael, the older boy born of the slave woman, was mocking Isaac, the promised child. Sarah went to Abraham and urged him to send Hagar and her son Ishmael away, seeing them as a hindrance and threat to Isaac. Abraham was heartbroken. But the Lord spoke to him and said to listen to Sarah's request. Abraham packed food and water for Hagar and her son and sent them away into the wilderness.

I found a lot of symbolism in this story.

Ishmael, being the son of the slave woman, represents our flesh. We are born into the slavery of sin, while Isaac represents our spirit, the one born of promise or born of God. The two sometimes cannot peacefully coexist. Sometimes, God needs to send our fleshly nature away into a wilderness season so that our spiritual selves can thrive and grow without any hindrances. The wilderness experience is often challenging for our physical selves and may involve tests, trials, and difficulties. We may feel sorry for ourselves and heartbroken. However, this ultimately must happen to allow for spiritual growth and development.

There is good news, however. The name Ishmael means "God will hear" or "God hears." As the Bible story illustrates, God carefully watches over us and listens to our needs, especially during our wilderness seasons. He does not leave us to face difficulties alone.