And I'm going to let other smarter people figure out why his wife Sara acted the way she did and why Abraham allowed himself to get involved with Sara's maid, Hagar. And why he had a son with Hagar and named him Ishmael. I will let you find another book to find the deeper hidden meaning behind it all.
But what I will say is that Hagar eventually found herself competing with Sara and her son Isaac.. even though her son Ishmael was older and ALSO Abraham's son.
Sara tells Abraham to tell Hagar to hit the road and take Ishmael with her. Abraham hesitates. It was a mean thing to do. It's not like she could catch a bus to the next city. She was in the middle of the desert. Desert - as in, no food, no water, no Walmart, no Mickey D's, no nothing. God tells Abraham that he will take care of the slave woman and her son........but..............no one tells us if God told the slave woman or her son the same thing.
SOoooooooooooooo............the next morning.....she finds herself on the short end of the stick. Sara wins. Hagar loses. Abraham sends her out with a tiny bit of food.. and a tiny bit of water... and it runs out quickly .. and she's in the middle of the desert......and she walks away to sit under a tree by herself because she cannot BEAR having to watch her son die.
Are you thinking... "MRS. OLDER !! Who CARES about this story? What does it have to me with me???"
Ahhhh.... well.. I want to let you know how God, your HEAVENLY FATHER..deals with a woman who is at the END. At the END.
And she thinks- correctly - that people have been cruel to her.
And she thinks - correctly - that she has gotten a raw deal in life.
And she thinks - correctly - that she has NO OTHER OPTIONS but to sit down and die before she has to watch her family die.
And she thinks - INCORRECTLY - that heaven will not help someone as lowly and unimportant as she is.
There is no one for fight for Hagar
BUT... God hear the cry of her son.
And HE ANSWERED from HEAVEN.. HE SPOKE TO HER... and told her that her future and her son's future was going to be great..
AND He opened her eyes to see a WELL of WATER ... and it was... get this....
right there!
Right there in the spot she had chosen to sit down and die.
RIGHT THERE... at the point where she had convinced herself that she and her son were going to die from thirst...
Her answer - her salvation - her rescue was
BUT....in order to save her life and her son's life.. she had to move AWAY from the place she had convinced herself she was going to die... .. and she took her son's hand and LED HIM to the water. And they drank. And they were cared for.
THAT'S HOW GOD DEALS WITH A WOMAN WHO HAS GOTTEN A REALLY RAW DEAL. THAT'S HOW GOD DEALS WITH A WOMAN WHO HAS NOT BEEN PERFECT.
THAT'S HOW GOD DEALS WITH A WOMAN WHOSE ONLY OPTION TO IS LAY DOWN AND DIE.
He hears the cry of a child...
HE RESCUES HER!
HE opens her eyes to see the answer... to see the future... to have hope for a good life... and it's RIGHT THERE ALL THE TIME... All the time she has been planning her own demise.. all the time she had been sure her son would die... Circumstances change when God gets involved. Her life wasn't over.. it was just beginning.
Today.. I believe.. with all my heart.. that God is taking my chubby little fingers..and typing words of hope to a woman reading this. I believe that if you will CRY OUT to Him.. HE will.. somehow.. lead your thirsty broken soul to living waters that are RIGHT THERE.. RIGHT NOW.
And as you are reading this... remember that Hagar had to GET UP FROM the place she had settled in.. the place she had to decided that her life was coming to an end.. and GET HER SON... and LEAD HIM TO LIFE GIVING WATER.
THIS WOMAN - WITH HER OWN HANDS - LED HERSELF AND HER SON TO LIFE!
Today... mother....get up from the place you have chosen to just sit down and die. Why die in the desert? Why use your own hands to destroy your home when God wants you to use them to lead your children to LIFE.
Get up... and look around.
Get up and take your children by the hand and LEAD THEM TO LIVING WATER.
LEAD THEM TO JESUS. There are people who truly love Jesus close by.. and because they truly love Jesus they will truly love you. Ask GOD to send you to His people.. and to send His people to you. But just don't sit there and die.
Get up.. get up... and ask God to open YOUR EYES. Hope and help and a future is right there.. right now.
If Hagar had not been willing to do ONE MORE THING to save herself and her son she WOULD HAVE DIED there.
WITH YOUR OWN HANDS....... you can lead your family away from death...and to the life giving water that is right there.. but you can only see it IF YOU WILL ALLOW GOD TO OPEN YOUR EYES.
God hears the cries of desperate women.
He does.
He cares.
You can believe that... and live.
Or not believe it ... and die.
The choice is clearly yours.
I love you,
XOXO
Mrs. Older.
You can read this story in the Bible in Genesis.. the first book in the Bible.. beginning at Chapter 12 and continuing for several chapters after.
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