How a Relationship With God Changes Everything • Deshen Daily

And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is (Genesis 21:17 KJV)

God deals with us based on our relationship with Him; He is a God of relationship. This devotional considers how God’s relationship with Ismael changed His dealings with Hagar, Ismael’s mother.

Abraham sent away Hagar and her son Ismael because Ismael was mocking Isaac. Sarah requested Abraham to do it, and God told Abraham to listen to Sarah! However, Hagar ran out of water in the desert and sat at a distance from her son, not bearing the sight of watching her son die of thirst, and then wept bitterly. Suddenly, she heard a voice from heaven with good news, instructing her to wipe her tears because God had heard the child’s voice. Both Hagar and Ismael wept, but God heard Ismael’s cry, not Hagar.

Ismael was Abraham’s son, and God had promised to bless Abraham’s children. Besides, Abraham had petitioned God to favor Ismael( Gen. 17:18). So Ismael was in a covenant relationship with God because of his father; Hagar was not. God responded to Ismail’s covenant relationship.

In Christ, we have a relationship with God better than Abraham’s covenant with God. We are God’s children; it is a Father-child relationship, far superior to a covenant, God-creation, or Master-servant relationship. An unsaved person can cry to God in distress, and God will not respond; they are in a God-creation relationship that does not mandate answers to prayers. But when a child of God cries out to Him, for that same situation, He responds!

He is a God of relationship!

What is your most valuable relationship with God?

You are God’s child; Daddy’s throne is opened to you without the protocol needed for servants. You are in a good place in Christ. Trust your Savior. Go to the throne of grace to obtain the help you need with all confidence.

Thank the Lord for adopting you into His family.