Love Jesus 13

Excerpt from “Wounded by God’s People,” by Anne Graham Lotz, p. 133-34.

As Hagar stumbled through the vast wilderness, her clothing catching on thorns, her feet stumbling over the rocks, her throat choking on the dust, she lost sight of everything but her own despair. Her self-preoccupation, though understandable, blinded her to God’s presence and to God’s provision. But God was not blind to Hagar. He was still there with her and watching her every step. While His gaze never left her, His heart must have ached over her helpless, hopeless condition. Hagar, remember Me? I am still the One who sees you.
You’re not alone. I’m right here.

But Hagar was so wrapped up in her wounds that she did not look up; she did not call on God; she did not pray. With her gaze cast down, all she could do was cry.

As the desert wind blew swirling dust in her face and the sky turned brazen from the heat, her mind must have snapped into panic mode, triggered by a feeling of total helplessness. She didn’t know where she could go or where she could live or how she could support herself and her son. Up until the moment she had walked away from Abraham’s household, Hagar had led a somewhat sheltered existence. She hadn’t needed to give a thought to providing the food on her table or the clothes on her back or the roof over her head. Abraham had generously supplied everything she had ever needed. Now she was suddenly on her own, responsible for finding basic necessities for herself and for her son. She must have felt totally helpless, because, humanly speaking, she was totally helpless.

Hagar’s overall realization of her completely helpless condition was pushed to the breaking point, not only by her wandering in the wilderness, but by her very real, immediate physical needs. She was desperate for water for herself and for Ishmael: “When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.” Neither of them would survive much longer without water. There was almost no chance she would ever find it on her own. And it may be that it wasn’t just her body that was dehydrated, but it was her spirit that was parched because she felt utterly separated from God.