Good Morning All,
Are you like me? I can’t 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 isn’t
there. Then I start looking all over the
place and then don’t 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 couldn’t watch her son die.
I don’t 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 couldn’t 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 couldn’t
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 didn’t see; it is there right
in front of us. God pours his love out
on us every minute of every day. Many times,
we just don’t see it.
That is what Easter 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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.