Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said...But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.
Genesis 21:1, 9-10 NIV
Isaac has just been born, and Ishmael is 14 yrs old. What did he do? Probably said the baby was ugly as teenage boys are likely to do...
After all God had done for them, Sarah couldn't extend a sliver of the grace that she'd been given.
She reduced Hagar to a label.
And as a label, it was easy to kick Hagar & Ishmael out.
I've grown to love Hagar over the last couple of weeks, and was ready to rip into Sarah over this, but then I realised that I do this too...label people. And then it's so easy not to extend a sliver of the grace I've received to anyone else.
I'm just like Sarah.
But God does not label us.
He knows your name.
#dearlyloved
#grace
...four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus... Mark 2:3-4 NLT Great account of inventiveness and determination to get their friend to see Jesus. Love this. Do you wonder about the back story? Are these the same 4 people who bring this man food? Take him to the toilet every day. Clean him up. Does he live with one of them? Are they family? Are there whole families or groups of people in the background who have supported and cared for this man? A group of children who grew up seeing their parents love in action? Probably. Healing Help Hope These things are found in community. These 4 guys are the heroes here. The upfront people. One day it will be interesting to see who the background heroes are. #loveinaction #community #inthistogether #walkingeachotherhome #gospelofmark
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