Questioning the ways of God is an exercise in futility….. we are especially clueless in trying to “read” his redemptive will in the midst of man’s bad decisions…..in a Genesis study a group was discussing Hagar, pregnant in the desert after she ran away from Sarah’s jealous, ill humor. But God heard her grief and sent a messenger who told her to go back to her persecuting, harsh slave mistress. She stayed until Ishmael was about 14, then left when sent away by Sarah who now had her own son. Why would God send a pregnant woman back into such a difficult place? Then when the child is 14, allow her to be sent out again, despairing of both their lives in the desert? And give her such a generous promise, very similar to the one he’d given Abraham….. that her son would have many progeny- arising from 12 princes- and be a mighty nation ( although a “wild ass” of a man? And what is THAT going to come to millennia later? )
One might understand keeping a single mother with a child in a family setting, even one less than comfortable, for protection until the child is old enough for them to be able to move forward with a measure of independence. And Hagar would have likely had to learn humility while Sarah was getting an up close parenting class in preparation for her own future role and maybe even learning to be more merciful.
God, no doubt, had a redemptive plan and purpose for each of them, the full scope of which we will never know.
Here’s one thing that occurs to me. God forged a relationship with Hagar. She moved forward in her difficult life with confidence that the one true God hears and sees the plight of all of his children, not just the one that was selected for a special Purpose that would lead to Christ’s birth( an act of redemption itself for humanity!). But his redemptive will provides a purpose and plan for ALL of them.
When we dismiss others because they don’t appear to “fit” into what we know of God’s plan, we are wearing blinders that reveal our own lack of understanding of the magnitude and exquisite perfection of God’s ultimate will ….. including Christ’s own opinion that “none should perish”… 2Peter 3:9
Let’s not be narrow minded, but allow for the fact that God knows what he’s doing and we don’t!
It’ll make for much less anxiety, ulcers and meanness. Ok