A Five-Minute Feast
Genesis 21:8b-9a
And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son…”
Why does our feasting at the banquet table of God’s bounty end so abruptly? I think of Elijah on Mt. Carmel, battling the prophets of Baal, witnessing the unquenchable, undeniable fire of God’s presence, but five minutes later, he’s lost in a wilderness, wishing God would just end his life. I think of Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, painstakingly earning the trust of Potiphar and getting the deserved promotion, but five minutes later, he’s in the darkest dungeon of his life. And here are Abraham and Sarah, celebrating this miracle-child they’ve waited their entire marriage for, but five minutes later, the jubilation has turned to grief and the jubilee ends early.
Christian, assuming that feelings of despair or loneliness or bitterness will threaten to snuff out your joy at some point today, just as they have mine already, I encourage you in the Lord Jesus: keep trusting God’s goodness regardless of your feelings. Strive to make today’s feast of faith the twenty-four-hour kind—not the five-minute one.