Contemplating

I read this quote in a book recently:

"Never settle for an Ishmael when you can have an Isaac."

It was a little quote in the middle of dialogue in a fiction novel. Nothing profound really, just a piece of advice one character gave to another. And yet since reading it (again in fact, as I've read the book before) I've had a hard time getting it out of my head.

If you're confused by who Ismael and Isaac are, here's the cliff notes version: Abraham (from the Bible) is promised a son by God, even though he's pretty old as is his wife, Sarah. Well patience didn't seem to be their strong points so Sarah, gave her handmaiden, Hagar, to Abraham to produce a child . . . Ishmael. The problem was that God had promised a child for Abraham through Sarah, not Hagar. So here you have a son, the first born in fact, that isn't the child of promise. And then of course, God kept His promise, and Sarah had Isaac. Drama ensues as you have two sons, one of promise and one of people.

So this comment keeps popping up in my head and I ask myself how often to I settle for the Ishmael. How often do I create a solution to a problem and even though it's not God's solution or even his promised/intended outcome do I settle for it because it's an answer and it's an answer now.

I want the Isaacs, I want God's answers and solutions but often I settle for my answers because they are on my timeline.

So I'm still thinking on this one so you might see more about it soon. But let me leave you with this question: What Ishmaels are you settling for in your life? What Isaacs are you not willing to wait for and so create Ishmaels?