A Lack of Courage
Well, friends, it's been a challenging week as we've seen Sarai's lack of faith, her lack of compassion as her and Hagar began to hate each other after their sin; her lack of responsibility, blaming others; Abram's lack of conviction, going along with sin instead of standing against it.
But let's close by going further down the passage and looking at Hagar and her lack of courage. Because in verse 6, when she gets mistreated by Sarai, she flees. And in verse 7 it says “the Angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert. And he said, ‘Hagar, where have you come from? Where are you going?’ ‘I'm running away from my mistress Sarai,’ she answered.”
How often do you and I run away from our difficulties, run away from the difficult times and the difficult situations? Things get tough. It's so much easier just to hide away. I know I have made that mistake in the past - instead of fixing the problem and doing what I can to thrive, I just cut myself off, ran away because that was so much easier.
But at some point, friends, we've got to stop running away and go and face our problems with faith.
Follow God’s Guidance
In verse 9 we read that the Angel of the Lord told her go back to your mistress and submit to her. Verse 11, he says to her, “the Lord has heard your misery.” In other words, don't worry, God knows, God understands. God will be with you.
And in fact, Hagar in verse 13 confirms this because she says to this Angel, “You are the God who sees me.” I have now seen the one who sees me. She recognized that this Angel was actually Jesus in a pre-incarnate appearance. The Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament is a preiincarnate Jesus.
And so don't miss this. When she ran away, God said, “I see you, I've heard that you're struggling, I know, but go back. And I will watch over you. I'll be with you. I'll help you.”
Trust God’s Strength
Do you need to go back into a difficult situation today with courage and faith? Of course, there are times when we need to leave. There are times when it is wise to walk away. I'm not suggesting otherwise, but be careful not to walk out when God still wants you somewhere. He will make it clear to you when you need to stay or when you need to go.
Follow his promptings and courageously, faithfully follow what he wants in your life. He will bless you, friends, when you go where he calls you to be, and he will give you what it takes to withstand and to stand firm, as we said earlier this week, in whatever difficult situation you're in.
I pray that God's strength and God's power and God's might will fill your spirits so that whatever difficult situation you're in, you don't run away, but you stand firm and do what God has called you to do there.
And so we've seen what can be lacking in our faith, this week, but friends, with God by our side, we don't have to lack these things! We can live in the fullness of obedience and trust, and I pray that you and I will do that.
