I Want the Isaac Not the Ishmael

Some days my heart is just so full and I have so much to share. And because I often process things out in my life by talking or writing, you guys get to be a part of that.
 
I'm single. There, I said it. For some of you that will come as a shock but it's true. You may have seen the cute Facebook posts of myself and my boyfriend (at the time) and we were quite cute together. We had a lot in common and fell in love quickly. So, quickly, in fact, that we were planning our wedding and our life together. And from the outside, it appeared to be a God thing on every account. Even for me, on the inside, it felt like a God thing. It felt like the desires of my heart were finally being fulfilled, to be someone's wife and helpmate. However, I am now single. I'll tell you more about that in a little bit.
 
In the book of Genesis (Chapters 15-17), we read about Abram and Sara, a couple who desperately wanted a child. Instead of waiting for the Lord to bring about His promise to Abram of becoming the father of many nations, Sara got tired of waiting and decided to make some things happen. She gave her slave, Hagar, to Abram to sleep with in the hopes that she would conceive and ultimately fulfill Sara's dream of becoming a mother and the promise made to Abram. Hagar did conceive and bore a son named Ishmael. And while Ishmael was a blessing from God to Hagar, he was not the way that God wanted to fulfill his promise to Abram. Eventually, Sara conceived and bore a son named Isaac, who was indeed the fulfillment of God's promise.

Now, I'm not going to expound on that a whole lot because I think you get the idea and you can read the account for your self.

Back to my story. While, I don't actually think I made the relationship happen between me and my now ex, I can very much relate to the above story. Like I said before, if you were an onlooker, it looked like the perfect match. We both loved Jesus. We had the same views on major life issues (abortion, marriage, child rearing, etc.) His son loved us both together and really liked me.

However, there were 2 major beliefs that he held that I did not agree with. And while I could have just overlooked them, they were MAJOR spiritual belief issues for me (you don't really need to know what they were).

One Sunday morning at church, I began wrestling with the Lord about those issues. I tried to convince myself that the issues weren't as major as I was making them out to be. But I couldn't get away from the fact that they were non-negotiable issues for me and to ignore them would ultimately be to deny major parts of who I am as a believer. After much prayer and wrestling, I knew I had to end the relationship.

This relationship, I believe was my Ishmael. It looked like God, it felt like God, but it was not God's best for me. It taught me a lot about myself, it taught me even more about God's protection and grace.

All of that to say, I want the Isaac not the Ishmael. And my prayer is that you do to. Don't try to make something happen and don't fight for something that God wants you to lay down. He will honor you and bless you for your obedience and your willingness to wait for the promise to be fulfilled.