Have you ever been deathly afraid? Had fear gripped you in a way that you were absolutely desperate for help from anyone or anything? What did you do? What would you do? Let me share a story with you of absolute desperation…
Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.
God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
~Genesis 21:14-18
I cannot even begin to imagine how Hagar felt. She had done Abram and Sarai a favor, and had borne Abram a child, since Sarai was unable to at her age. Her son, Ishmael, had favor in the house, and then the God that Abram served did the impossible, He enabled Sarai to become pregnant, and Isaac was born. Everything was okay until one day Ishmael and Isaac acted as any brothers would, and Ishmael picked on his little brother. This angered Sarai, and she demanded that Abram put Hagar and Ishmael out of their home.
Abram knew that he had disobeyed God in his relationship with Hagar; and that Ishmael was not the son that was promised to Abram in the covenant with God. Yet, Abram still loved his son, and I am certain turning Ishmael out was an extremely difficult thing for him to do. So Abram did the best he could, and he gave Hagar food and water, and sent them on their way.
While she and her son wandered in the desert, the water ran out, and no more was to be found. They tried to go on, but eventually Hagar realized they were not going to make it. Full of grief she laid her son under a bush, maybe to provide some comfort in the heat of the day, and waited. She waited for him to die.
She was not able to sit and hold him, love him into the arms of death; instead she moved away from him and cried. She cried for her situation, cried out for help in the midst of the desolation she felt. She cried for every wrong thing she had ever done, and wished she could change. She cried out in absolute desperation of the situation, and cried for the failure of not being able to stop death from coming to her and to her son.
Then suddenly, the God of Abram heard her cries and spoke to her. He told her that He would take care of her and her son; that He would make Ishmael into a great nation and they would surely survive. He told her not to be afraid but instead to trust Him.
It seems ironic that when we have finally reached that place that we fear the most, that place of desperation, that place where we are absolutely helpless to help ourselves, that is the place that gives birth to our obedience and we begin to trust in something bigger than ourselves. Hagar did not serve the God that Abram served, nor did her son Ishmael – yet God was bigger than their belief systems and He was able to meet their needs when the gods and values they served could not. God was big enough to move in her life despite her disbelief and disobedience to Him. God provided for her and her son knowing that they would probably never serve Him, even though He saved them from certain demise.
So my question is this; why would I ever be afraid of anything? I serve a God that is bigger than anything I can ever imagine, anything I will ever experience, and everything I could ever hope for, plus some. I serve a God that will move in my life, and will take care of me, despite myself. I serve a God that cares for each of us when we cannot and don’t care for ourselves.
When we serve a God like that, a God that provides for those who don’t honor Him, a God that loves those who don’t seek Him, a God that gives to those who take from others; when we serve a God like that, why would we ever consider the alternative? Why would we ever be afraid? God will provide every need according to His riches and glory, so we have no need to fear.
More From Dawn
Meet & Greet