Romans 6: 6 – 13 (NKJV)

^“6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. ¹³ And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.“

The New Living Translation puts it this way:

⁶ We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. ⁷ For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. ⁸ And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. ⁹ We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. ¹⁰ When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. ¹¹ So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Genesis 21: 14 - 20 (NKJV)

“So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and ^[f]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. ¹⁵ And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So, she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. ¹⁷ And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸ Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. ²⁰ So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.”

God is a God of love and great compassion. He cares for each of us and treats us with compassion.

In these verses of scripture, we read the story of Abraham sending away Hagar and his son Ishmael, based on God’s instruction.  We might wonder why will God do this. God had a definite plan and purpose in doing this. He was going to make a nation, a great nation out of Ishmael (verses 13 and 18).  After Hagar and Ismael were sent away, they wandered in the wilderness and the water which they had taken along finished. They had nothing left to sustain them, causing Hagar to be distressed and to weep. I can only imagine that she must have felt utterly forsaken and rejected. She actually put Ishmael down and moved away from him fearing that he was going to die. Hope was lost for her.

Genesis 13: 5 - 8 (NKJV)

^“5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ Now the land was not able to ^[a]support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land. ⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. “

It has been said that strife is always in the air, but we as beautiful daughters of the Most High God, you and I must choose to not to catch it.