11-22-2021

 Good Morning All!

          Genesis 21:19; “Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.” 

     Are you like me? I cannot tell you the number of times I have to look for something or other in my office. I know I put it right over there and the next time I want it; it is not there. Then I start looking all over the place and then do not find it. Then a few days later, there it is right where I put it. I must confess that, at times, I think, someone is messing with me, but I have no proof. (Yet)

    Most of us have these moments and, for the most part, we can laugh them off.  A moment of forgetfulness and we pass it off. But have you ever felt it more deeply in your heart and in your soul? In our verse, this is a continuation of Hagar’s story. She went back to Abraham and Sarah, and it was ok for a while but then Sarah gave birth to Isaac and then they kicked Hagar and her son out again. She took her son and a jug of water and left. Soon the water was gone, and her son was listless from thirst. She laid him under a bush and walked away because she could not watch her son die.

    I do not know if any of us have felt like this. There have been times and there will be times when I have felt like I was searching for an answer from God and just could not seem to find it. Maybe you have as well.  Perhaps you have felt the sting of an angry remark or comment from a loved one.  Perhaps you felt the stinging rebuke of an employer.  Perhaps the doctor’s report wasn’t what you expected.  So, you are left wondering where everything is.

    Hagar went to look for water and could not find any, so she cried to the Lord, and he answered her. Then he “opened her eyes.”  Isn’t that what we really need more than anything? We need God to open our eyes to the truth of his grace. We can search and search, but we never look in the right place. Too often, we turn to the “experts” in the world and listen closely to their advice and yet we receive no comfort or hope. The “experts” never address the root problem. Our sin costs us our ability to truly see God’s grace around us. It is there, just like the well that Hagar did not see; is there right in front of us. God pours his love out on us every minute of every day. Many times, we just do not see it.

    That is what faith is all about, God opening our eyes to see the well, or the river, of his love and grace. We will still face the sinful world and its trials and troubles of this life, but we do not face them alone and we do not face them without hope for we have the everlasting hope of our salvation.

Dearest Father, your mercy overflows us like a river, yet we do not see it. We focus too much on our troubles and not on our salvation; we see our failures instead of your grace. Lead us to see the waters of your wondrous grace and mercy. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret