It may very well be that I’m in the minority here. The Bible is my source for truth. And I know I need to listen to what God might teach me to be that truth, rather than lean on my own understanding.
It was 9/11 that turned my interest to a people – and a part of the world – that, quite honestly, I’d not spent much time thinking about. For as long as I can remember, my heart has loved Israel and the Jew. I know the Arab through my uncle, by marriage, and though his voice was gruff-sounding, he was loveable. And he adored my aunt, who was our favorite.
When considering the faiths of various people, we perhaps can learn something from each one. But I don’t think any of us spends enough time alone with the one who’s created us – to learn from Him what it is He would teach us. We robotically follow the requirements of our faith, but our hearts not not fully engaged.
In my search to understand the children of Ishmael, I found in Genesis, this:
“thou…shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him…” Gen.16:11,12
In Ch. 16, it was Sarai – not yet Sarah – who could not wait on the Lord – putting her will above God’s in order to have a child. She took matters into her own hands – offering her handmaid, Hagar, to Abram – not yet Abraham. Hagar bears Abram’s first son. God immediately establishes his convenant with Abraham in Ch. 17.
God loves each one of us, and is beyond able to reconcile us to Him. It would seem that what He works in the heart of every man, He is also working in the heart of every nation.
It took me many years to be aware of what He was doing in me. And I’m sure there is much more I have yet to learn. It is with great difficulty that a man comes to any understanding. How much more difficult must it then be for a nation?
For if, at best, it takes one man – his heart divided in its loyalty (his own will vs. God’s will) – years to realize some truth, how much more must it take for a nation – having a multitude of hearts divided in loyalty – to be reconciled?
