MYSTERY OF HOLDING HANDS (2)

“Arise, LIFT UP the lad and HOLD HIM with YOUR HAND, for I will make him a great nation” – Genesis 21:18

The mother-child connection uniquely illustrates the MYSTERY of HOLDING HANDS: “Arise, LIFT UP the lad and HOLD HIM with YOUR HAND, for I will make him a great nation” (Gen.21:18). The moment Isaac was born, Sarah furiously demanded that Abraham cast out her maid, Hagar and son, Ishmael (v.10). Abraham was greatly displeased, but the Lord assured him that Ishmael would be protected and blessed (vv.11-13). So, we see the painful departure of Hagar and Ishmael from Abraham’s life. He sent out mother and child with minimal means of existence into the wilderness: “So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba” (v.14).

As far as Hagar was concerned, she and her son had lost all hope of survival. They were out of water and lost in the wilderness. Rather than HOLD the child, she put him under a bush and sat down some distance away, expecting him to die: “And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs” (v.15). The counsel of the Lord must however be fulfilled. God stepped in to save the mother and child, as He usually does, by means of Divine Instructions. An angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, asserting that God had heard not just her cry, but Ishmael’s voice (v.17). Hagar was instructed to do that which was possible, USE HER HANDS: “Arise, lift up the lad and HOLD HIM with YOUR HAND” (v.18a). In turn, God promised to do the humanly impossible: Deliver, protect and prosper the erstwhile hopeless mother and child. Moreover, He renewed His promise to make Ishmael a great nation in his own right (v.18b).

As Hagar obeyed, “God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad drink” (v.19). Here, we see further uses of HAGAR’S HANDS to preserve and guide her son into his God-ordained destiny. Where her efforts ceased, God took over: “So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer” (v.20). Hagar’s hands, in submission to God’s Instructions, defended her son’s life that was close to being terminated, lifting him to maturity and destiny fulfilment.

For every promising destiny of the little child out there in the world, there are divinely-prepared HANDS. These could be the hands of the biological mother or father, or those of foster parents or outright strangers: “God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a dry land” (Psa.68:8). There is no upbringing too deprived or background too poor that God cannot deliver from: “He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes – with the princes of His people” (Psa.113:7-8). But the Lord will often use available HOLDING or HELPING HANDS to secure and fulfil great destinies.

In the case of baby Moses, the available HOLDING HANDS were those of his mother, but not without a destiny-defining drama (Exo.2:2-9). In order to preserve his life from the prevailing evil in Egypt, the mother put her baby boy into a boat made of reeds and set him adrift on the local river, until he was discovered by the daughter of Pharaoh who rescued the boy and raised him. But by divine design, the Hebrew maid that was invited to nurse Moses in her hands, was his very mother! Could there be a Divine Magnet to the Mystery of Holding Hands?

Thinking back over five decades, one of my fondest memories was having my mother hold my hands as I accompanied her from place to place. I perceive that a mysterious bonding, preserving, and destiny-defining power flowed from those Lifting, Holding, and Helping Hands!