Topic: There is a seeing God
Text: Genesis 16:3-13
Key verse … \”You are a God of seeing\” for she said, Truly here l have seen him who looks after me \”.Genesis 16:13(ESV)
Several life-saving processes cause pain; extracting an infected tooth is always a painful exercise, but the pain it brings is mild compared to the trauma an infected hole in the tooth can cause.
When you sit before the dentist, you know it\’s an invitation to pain. Nevertheless, you\’re willing to submit to it and even pay good money for the service. The path out of pain can sometimes lead through seasons of more pain.
Hagar was an Egyptian maid living with Sarai, her mistress. She must have served so well that Sarai considered her an excellent candidate to be a surrogate mother for Abraham\’s children. She didn\’t seem to have a choice about this, but she obliged them.
Months later, after becoming pregnant, she looked at her mistress contemptuously. Sarah didn\’t fail to notice the change in attitude; she quickly rose to assert herself as the legitimate wife and put Hagar in her place.
\”… then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.\”
The natural reaction towards anyone who causes you pain is to run from them, especially if you can\’t fight them. She ran into the wilderness away from discipline, not abuse. She could have run to other relatives, fellow servants, or anyone who could mediate on her behalf. Still, instead, she chose to run to the wilderness: a place of loneliness, isolation, dryness, a fearful and hopeless place.
Where is your favorite place to go in a time of pain? How helpful is that place? It is not wise to run to where you are left alone with the devil, except you have the word living in your heart. Thank God! Hagar found a spring of water, similar to the word of God, in a hurting heart.
When I am hurting, I find comfort in your promise that leads to life. Psalm 119:50(CEV)
The angel sent her home to her mistress with a word of prophecy about her pregnancy and her son\’s future. She had to go through more seasons of pain to get to that place of pleasure: seeing her son live to fulfill destiny. There are lessons you can only learn in a season of pain. Character is developed during hard times.
She discovered God in a new way!
\” You are a God of seeing\” and \”Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.\”
In that pain season, we can see a new revelation of who God is. Not just what others have said about him, but what he has shown us about himself.
It\’s time to catch a revelation!
There are times l have felt pressured to explore opportunities to earn money, and deep in my spirit; I hear a NO; as the tears begin to fall, I remember his promises that seem like a distant future so far away that it will take forever to come to pass. I have known him as a seeing God because I suddenly see miraculous interventions, more than enough, just on time, that only a seeing God could make happen. As a child who looks up with confidence to Papa, I have learned to trust Abba.
Blessings
Pastor Ada
Reflection
What am I running away from?
Why do l doubt God\’s presence with me at this time?
What can I learn about God\’s ways?
Photo by Maxine yang on Unsplash
