Somewhere in our past is a wound that our enemy picks at with recurring little digs. The intent is to keep it open – to keep it from healing. Mine occurred when I was 6. I was the new kid on the block. My new friends thought it would be funny, after luring me into a little backyard playhouse, to shut the door and then locked it.
My enemy was fast on the scene to suggest that they did not like me. It was my first memorable gash on my soul; and though I didn’t realize it at the time, it would be THE gash that he would pick at for the rest of my life.
I wonder if that is the same tactic he used when Ishmael and his mother were forced to leave Abraham, Sarah and their new son Isaac. Isaac was chosen over Ishmael. I can imagine a huge opportunity for a wound there. This wound would have a lot of potential; way beyond the life of Ishmael. This one has been picked at now for 4,000 years.
There is a purpose for these wounds. Mine was picked at so long that by the time I became a Christian, I questioned whether God liked me. With Ishmael’s offspring, Satan has convinced them that he is god – that the Jews stole what was rightfully theirs – and that he, as their god, Allah, is leading them to settle the score. They are not after peace.
Hunger and Thirst 