There are places we take ourselves to heal. Places that God leads us to though we don't realize. Theirs was such a story. A story that always seemed to have her running toward her destiny.
It all began when the promise seemed to tarry. Her mistress, Sarai, was barren and in desperate need for a child. And desperate needs beget desperate decisions - some hasty and regrettable to the myopic eye. So when asked to lay with Abram, Sarai's husband, so that she may bear him a child, Hagar willingly obliged.
She became pregnant. And as her belly swelled, so did her contempt and despise for her mistress. She had forgotten that she was first a maid, then a secondary wife, but wasn't she the one with child? Sarai could have none of it so she troubled her and afflicted her till she was forced to flee.
And she ran as far into the wilderness as her swollen legs could carry her only stopping by a spring for rest and to cool her parched throat. Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to her and spoke the very words she was running from.
"Go back to your mistress and [humbly] submit to her control."
Return? To Sarai? His words shook her. Then He added:
"I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be numbered for multitude. See now, you are with child and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael [God hears], because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your affliction. And he [Ishmael] will be as a wild ass among men; his hand will be against every man and every man’s hand against him, and he will live to the east and on the borders of all his kinsmen." (Genesis 16)
Yes. Her painful exit from her mistress' house, though justified, was hasty. She now realized that. The wilderness was no place for a weak and pregnant woman also carrying a promise. That's what Ishmael, the tiny one forming in her, was. A promise. For she had looked upon the face of the One who sees and heard His purposes and designs for her through her unborn. And every time she would look upon his face, she would remember that the Lord hears. So she returned to her mistress and Ishmael was born.
Many years passed by. The same God that visited her changed the names of her master and mistress, for they were no longer Abram and Sarai, but Abraham and Sarah. Even so, God's promise to give Abraham a son through Sarah, was fulfilled and Isaac was born. And both Ishmael and Isaac grew together.
Then came the fateful day when Sarah saw Ishmael, with the folly of a 17 year old boy, mock Isaac, her 3 year old son that she was weaning. She went to Abraham, again, complaining that he send Hagar and Ishmael away. It grieved him, but he complied; only because God told him to and because He reminded Him of His promise to make Ishmael into a great nation (Genesis 17:20, 21:13)
Oh how history repeats itself! There she was again, gathering herself and her son leaving, this time for good. All she had with her, was the bottle of water and bread that Abraham gave her. So she wandered on aimlessly and lost her way in the wilderness of Beersheba.
When the water in the bottle was all gone, she left her son lying under a shrub and sat a good way off that she may not see him dying. The boy wept and she could hear him from a distance. She wept along with him. All hope was lost. But God heard the boy's cry and called to her. He had heard Ishmael's cry, and He reminded her of His intention to make Him a great nation. Then He opened up her eyes and she saw a well and filled the empty bottle with water that Ishmael might drink of it. And they were strong again; not only because they finally had water to drink, but because of His word and promise to them. So they lived out their days in the wilderness, the very place God had destined them to thrive (Genesis 21:1-21)
The story of Hagar and Ishmael is one of divine sustenance. It's a story that reminds us that man does not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Yes. And how His promises are YES and AMEN.
And this echoes as I read their story: that there is a fruitfulness awaiting you in the land of your affliction.
When you think of a desert or wilderness, you're unlikely to picture shiny happy people laughing as they cool their feet in large pools of water. Or places teeming with life and animals. What comes to mind is tiny shrubs and sand dunes that stretch as far as the eye can see. And sand storms. Many, many sand storms. That's what I see. Then it hit me...
Isn't this our view of process?
Don't we see it as nothingness that stretches on for months?
Don't we picture ourselves fighting for life in the desert - a place stinking of death and rot?
Don't we find it to be the least enjoyable experience ordained of God?
Even more, don't we think of it as a punishment?
And if we don't, don't we often doubt that it is of God?
If only God could open our eyes that we see process through His eyes. That's what God had to do for Hagar.
She had been chased away from her only semblance to a home into the wilderness to begin life anew carrying nothing but the satchel of bread and bottle of water Abraham had sent her away with. As it turns out, it was not enough - man can only get you so far. She left Ishmael afar, afraid to watch him die because they were out of water and were running out of bread. Even more, they had no idea where they were and they had gotten lost severally as the wilderness stretched on for miles. She was resigned to fate and the very thing on her mind was their pending death. Not the promises of God.
Then He spoke to her, reminded her of His promise and caused her eyes to open - and she saw a well of water. And she drew from it and was strengthened.
Could it be that there was a well right where they were all that time?
Had their fatigue and resignment to fate caused them to be blinded to their troubles at the time and not the promise?
If only we remembered: that where God leads us to, there is grace and provision.
That is the wisdom that God so desires of us. That we be sensitive to His Spirit to the extent that whenever we experience something, be it good or bad, that we are able to perceive Christ within the experience and see Him exalted in it. Yes. Even in our sufferings and challenges!
Yet we live life thinking some of our circumstances catch Him unaware. That He is surprised when we go through some things when in fact, we're the ones that don't realize His soft Hand choreographing and ordering every circumstance in our lives. And His soft nudging leading us into the desert.
And just like Jesus expects us to bear fruit in and out of season (Matthew 21:18-20), being in the wilderness should be no excuse. If dates and olives thrive in the desert, as believers we have no excuse.
Because this is the rich treasure locked up in the wilderness: Just like a tea bag tastes sweetest in hot water, so does the desert cause us to birth sweet, strong and resilient fruit. It is a place where God's promises become as real to you as your breath. It is where His promises become incandescent to us lighting the path to our feet.
Dear one, we are called to not only bear fruit but to also THRIVE in every circumstance we are in.
Wherever you go, in whatever situation you find yourself, choose to happen. Purpose to bear much fruit. You were born to thrive ESPECIALLY in the wilderness.
No comments:
Post a Comment