THE SET UP: One of my dad’s favorite expressions (at least when I was doing work for him) was, “There’s never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.” The simple message: shortcuts don’t always work out. Now I’m not above a useful life hack, but I have found that a lot of time that I thought I had a better idea it didn’t turn out that way. Especially when I am trying to give God an assist.
That may have been what was going through Abraham and Sarah’s heads when they concocted a work around when it came to becoming the father and mother of a great nation. They were getting older, and no children were being born. So they decided that arranging a younger wife for Abraham, Sarah’s servant girl Hagar, was a way to fulfill God’s promise to them, or at least speed up the process.
I get it. Who wants to wait? We like drive throughs, microwaves, next-day delivery, and the “buy it now” button on the app. But Advent, which is Latin for, “coming,” or, “arrival,” is about the anticipation of God’s promise being fulfilled – and you can’t microwave that process.
Abraham and Sarah’s plan didn’t work out the way they hoped and it caused a lot of pain for Hagar. But God listened to Hagar. God saw Hagar. Every day during this Advent season, when you wake, remind yourself that he listens to you. And be comforted by the knowledge that he sees you.
PASSAGE TO READ: Genesis 16
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
· Have you ever felt like God forgot you, so you tried to figure out your own “plan B”? How did things turn out?
· Hagar began to call God El Roi which is Hebrew for, “the God who sees me,” and she named her son Ishmael, which means, “God hears.” How does knowing that God sees and hears us help you in the difficult seasons of your life?
· Are you in the middle of a difficult season of life right now? Do you feel as if God sees you and hears you? How do you typically connect with God to feel His presence in your life?
PRAYER: “God who sees, thank you for sending Jesus to rescue me from the desert of my sin and misery. Thank you for never leaving me even when I feel alone, unseen and unheard. Thank you for being my strength when I am weak. In Jesus’ name. Amen.