Where Are You Going?
Jul 6, 2018 15:09:00 GMT -6
Post by Gene Whitehurst on Jul 6, 2018 15:09:00 GMT -6
Genesis 16. The Lord had prevented Sarah from having a child, and she suggested to Abraham that he have a child with Hagar. Abraham took Hagar and a boy was born. Soon, there was enmity between Sarah and Hagar. Sarah rejected Hagar and Hagar in frustration, hurt feelings, and anger left and ran away.
Hagar was angry, mistreated, rejected, depressed, and on the run. She was headed back to Egypt, her original home, a pagan land. She was headed away from Abraham’s home, a godly home where she had no doubt had come to know God. But now, she was spiritually empty. Then the Lord found her. She wasn’t praying. She wasn’t seeking help from God. She was taking action based on her frustration.
In His amazing grace, the Lord went after her and found her. He pursued her and He found her. The Lord did not wait for her to be in the right spiritual state before coming to help her! God in His loving grace pursued her. The Lord spoke to her and asked two questions:
Where have you come from? The Lord wanted her to express her plight. The Lord wanted her to talk about her problem to Him. The text only revealed that she was fleeing from the presence of her mistress, Sarah. Hagar probably said much more in her grief. Perhaps she poured out her complaint to the Lord. “I poured out my complaint before him; I showed before him my trouble.” (Psalm 142:2)
Where are you going? Hagar didn’t answer this second question. It was obvious to them both that what she was doing and where she was going was a mistake. But in loving counsel, the Lord moves her thinking from her sorrow and pain to…what are you going to do now?
Most of us can and do express our complaints. Nothing is wrong with occasionally discussing your plight as long as it is where you ‘used’ to be. The important thing that the Lord made her think about is…now what are you going to do?’ Are you going to drag your sad attitude and life back to Egypt? Cease dwelling on the past and press forward into God’s future for you.
Hagar did not speak an answer to his 2nd question. Often, we have no answer. We don’t know what to do about the deep sorrow and grief in our life. The Lord told her what to do. “Go back to your mistress.” God has a place for you to be and an attitude for you to have. It is interesting. Hagar spoke right up when asked where did you come from. She was almost eager to describe her misery. But when asked where are you going, she was stuck. She thought clearly about her pain; but she did not think clearly about ‘what now?’
The Lord asks you the same questions today. He wants you to pour out your complaint to him. As your High Priest, He wants to hear and can feel your pain. But he also wants you to not remain on the weak path of misery. He wants you to get past rehearsing your problem and living in your misery - and to move on to the place that He wants you to be. And as with Hagar, He may wish for you to return to the situation where the pain and sorrow existed. The point is that our gracious Lord has a plan and a direction that He wants you to follow. Don’t panic and create your own solutions to your problems. You must seek His will and wishes for your next steps.
Of course, sharing your misery will gain sympathy with others – for a while. But after prolonged expressing of misery, your sympathetic friends will prefer not to listen. A true friend would rather hear that you are moving on with your life. Clearly, that is what God wants to hear and see! The past is crippling. The future is promising!
What are you going to do now? And perhaps you have found yourself thinking about leaving a terrible situation. Perhaps you have already departed as Hagar did. Don’t get the impression that God wants YOU to go back to where you were - as He commanded Hagar. Perhaps yes, but perhaps no. You must seek the Lord to know the next steps to take. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” (Psa 32:8) God commanded Hagar to go back to her previous position. He commanded Moses to get out of Egypt.
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” (Phil 3:13) Of course, we will probably never forget ‘what is behind.’ But we must choose to press ourselves on to what is ahead. Don’t choose to be stuck looking back over your shoulder.
Hagar was obedient to God’s choice for her to return to Sarah. She could tell in her heart that it was the right thing for her to do. She said to God, “You are a God who sees.” He can see what we cannot see or imagine. His plan is always best!
Hagar was angry, mistreated, rejected, depressed, and on the run. She was headed back to Egypt, her original home, a pagan land. She was headed away from Abraham’s home, a godly home where she had no doubt had come to know God. But now, she was spiritually empty. Then the Lord found her. She wasn’t praying. She wasn’t seeking help from God. She was taking action based on her frustration.
In His amazing grace, the Lord went after her and found her. He pursued her and He found her. The Lord did not wait for her to be in the right spiritual state before coming to help her! God in His loving grace pursued her. The Lord spoke to her and asked two questions:
Where have you come from? The Lord wanted her to express her plight. The Lord wanted her to talk about her problem to Him. The text only revealed that she was fleeing from the presence of her mistress, Sarah. Hagar probably said much more in her grief. Perhaps she poured out her complaint to the Lord. “I poured out my complaint before him; I showed before him my trouble.” (Psalm 142:2)
Where are you going? Hagar didn’t answer this second question. It was obvious to them both that what she was doing and where she was going was a mistake. But in loving counsel, the Lord moves her thinking from her sorrow and pain to…what are you going to do now?
Most of us can and do express our complaints. Nothing is wrong with occasionally discussing your plight as long as it is where you ‘used’ to be. The important thing that the Lord made her think about is…now what are you going to do?’ Are you going to drag your sad attitude and life back to Egypt? Cease dwelling on the past and press forward into God’s future for you.
Hagar did not speak an answer to his 2nd question. Often, we have no answer. We don’t know what to do about the deep sorrow and grief in our life. The Lord told her what to do. “Go back to your mistress.” God has a place for you to be and an attitude for you to have. It is interesting. Hagar spoke right up when asked where did you come from. She was almost eager to describe her misery. But when asked where are you going, she was stuck. She thought clearly about her pain; but she did not think clearly about ‘what now?’
The Lord asks you the same questions today. He wants you to pour out your complaint to him. As your High Priest, He wants to hear and can feel your pain. But he also wants you to not remain on the weak path of misery. He wants you to get past rehearsing your problem and living in your misery - and to move on to the place that He wants you to be. And as with Hagar, He may wish for you to return to the situation where the pain and sorrow existed. The point is that our gracious Lord has a plan and a direction that He wants you to follow. Don’t panic and create your own solutions to your problems. You must seek His will and wishes for your next steps.
Of course, sharing your misery will gain sympathy with others – for a while. But after prolonged expressing of misery, your sympathetic friends will prefer not to listen. A true friend would rather hear that you are moving on with your life. Clearly, that is what God wants to hear and see! The past is crippling. The future is promising!
What are you going to do now? And perhaps you have found yourself thinking about leaving a terrible situation. Perhaps you have already departed as Hagar did. Don’t get the impression that God wants YOU to go back to where you were - as He commanded Hagar. Perhaps yes, but perhaps no. You must seek the Lord to know the next steps to take. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” (Psa 32:8) God commanded Hagar to go back to her previous position. He commanded Moses to get out of Egypt.
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” (Phil 3:13) Of course, we will probably never forget ‘what is behind.’ But we must choose to press ourselves on to what is ahead. Don’t choose to be stuck looking back over your shoulder.
Hagar was obedient to God’s choice for her to return to Sarah. She could tell in her heart that it was the right thing for her to do. She said to God, “You are a God who sees.” He can see what we cannot see or imagine. His plan is always best!