Description: Happy readings these are not. In Genesis, Sarah is fearful that Hagar’s son will one day inherit instead of her own, Isaac; so she demands Abraham cast them out. He does so, because God tells him to listen to her. And He cares for them in the desert. In Matthew, Jesus warns that he did not come to bring peace, but a sword—to set son against father and daughter against mother. God’s purposes are mysterious, His ways far above our ways. Like the psalmist, we cry out in distress—and, although we don’t know why, we find help forthcoming.