The God Who Sees Us (The LORD Has Heard Of Our Misery 72 [Gen 16:7-15] / Anne's Faith Column

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The God  Who Sees Us

(The LORD Has Heard

Of Our Misery 72

[Gen 16:7-15]

/ Anne's Faith Column 

 

 

/ By Priscilla 

 

 

"The angel of the LORD

found Hagar near a spring

in the desert; it was the

spring that is beside the

road to Shur.

 

 

 

And he said,

"Hagar, servant of Sarai,

where have you come from,

and where are you going?"

 

 

 

"I'm running away from

my mistress Sarai,"

she answered.

 

 

 

Then the angel of the LORD

told her, "Go back to your

     mistress and submit to her."

 

 

 

The angel added,

"I will so increase your

descendants that they will

   be too numerous to count."

 

 

 

 The angel of the LORD

also said to her:

 

 

 

"You are now with child

and you will have a son.

You shall name him Ishmael,

for the LORD has heard

of your misery.

 

 

 

He will be a wild donkey

of a man; his hand will be

against everyone and

everyone's hand

against him,

 

 

 

and he will live in hostility

toward all his brothers."

She gave this name to the

LORD who spoke to her: 

 

 

 

"You are the God who

sees me," for she said,

"I have now seen the

One who sees me."

 

 

 

That is why the well

was called Beer Lahai Roi ;

it is still there, between

Kadesh and Bered.

 

 

 

So Hagar bore Abram a son,

and Abram gave the name

Ishmael to the son

 she had borne."

(Gen 16:7-15)

 

 

In today's scripture,

the angel of the LORD

appeared to Hagar,

 

 

 

who ran away from her

mistress Sarah, and comforted

 her and gave her about her

a covenant descendants.

 

 

God also promised Abram

that He would make his

descendants numerous

and blessed.

 

 

 

Here's something we

should definitely check.

 

 

 

Abraham, the father of faith,

could be chosen by God even

though he hadn't met the

conditions of a righteous man

 

 

 

who was exceptional at

the time, living in the world 

and doing  righteous deeds.

 

 

In the Scriptures it is written:

 

 

 

"There is no one righteous,

not even one."

(Romans 3:10)

 

 

 

Abram was blessed with

the favor that was available

for the elect only by the

   total sovereignty of God.

 

 

 

Abram completely believed

the covenant God had

given him,

 

 

 

and God regarded it as 

righteousness and gave

him the title of righteous

 man with His free grace.

 

 

 

In the Scriptures it is written:

 

 

 

"Abram believed the LORD,

and he credited it to him

as righteousness."

(Gen 15:6)

 

 

 

However, Abram could

not understand the will

of God and had to go through

many difficulties by using

a humanistic method.

 

 

 

God knew Abram's mistakes

and his weaknesses,

which had caused the

source of discord,

 

 

 

and covered his shame,

and examined him.

I can't imagine how

endless God's grace is!

 

 

 

God, who knew human

weakness and its motives,

not only rebuked Abram,

 

 

 

but also gave him comfort

although some of the ways

he took in his life were not

exactly what God had

wanted him to do.

 

 

 

Hagar, who was once

Sarah's maidservant,

 

 

 

suffered the penalty of her

arrogance and, unable

to bear the humiliation,

fled to the desert.

 

 

However, God knew

that she was pregnant

with Abram's baby and, with

mercy, rescued Hagar

and her son.

 

 

 

The actions she took

came out of  her strong ego,

nevertheless, the Lord

wrapped her in love

 

 

 

and saved her life

 dramatically from 

her misery.

 

 

 

No matter how much

we deny ourselves before

the Lord, we are just like

Abram or Hagar.

 

 

 

Even though we are

servants not masters,

 

 

 

we try to judge everything

rationally, acting like masters

with pride and arrogance

like Hagar.

 

 

 

However, when we face

the reality, repent, and come

before the Lord quietly,

 

 

 

God makes us realize

the right sense of ownership

of ourselves, who lived with

devious passion and

arrogance.

 

 

 

This is the moment when

God's grace toward Hagar

is a great comfort to us.

 

 

 

God gave

Hagar a helping hand

and told her to go back

to her mistress and

submit to her.

 

 

 

Today, God tells us to

turn away from evil

and obey Him, just trust

Him and serve Him

faithfully.

 

 

 

We should realize that

God is so fair in doing good

by giving a helping hand

to the little ones and

the lowly like this.

 

 

 

If we are sure that the

'LORD has heard of

our misery,'

 

 

 

what shall we fear? -

we fear the power

of the world,

 

 

 

extreme poverty,

nakedness, or sword? 

 

 

 

No power will dare to cut off

our relationship with God.

  

 

 

Therefore, we should not

hide from the Lord, and 

not wander in wickedness

any longer, as the Lord

commanded.

 

 

 

And also we should give up

our life in the wilderness,

return to the Lord,

live in obedience,

 

 

 

and devote ourselves

to glorifying God.

 

 

 

Prayer

 

 

 

Lord!  

 

 

 

May I live with an attitude

of faith that I submit to

the Lord all the time!

 

 

 

All the gifts and talents

God has given me belong

to the Lord. In fact, nothing

belongs to me.

 

 

 

So Lord!

Please use me as You wish.

So let me be Your child

who never reveals my ego!

 

 

 

As a Gentile, the light of

salvation has come upon me

through Your great grace.

 

 

 

I only long for and praise

You who see me.

 

 

 

I praise You with all my

heart because  You have

heard of my misery.

 

 

 

Lord!

 

 

I praise and glorify You.

 

 

 

Amen.

 

 

 

2010/04/12

 

 

/ By Priscilla