Have you ever felt torn between two passages of Scripture, each pulling at your heart in different ways? That’s the place I landed in last week, wrestling with Hagar’s response to her circumstances here:
So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. “I don’t want to watch the boy die,” she said, as she burst into tears. But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.” Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink. Genesis 21:14-19 NLT
And doing homework for a Bible Study focused on Psalm 23:1,
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.
Psalms 23:1 NLT
I Have All I Need
At first glance, I didn’t see a connection. But, I remembered that Hagar was the one God had seen in the wilderness once before. And in that sacred encounter, in Genesis 16, she named Him ‘The God who sees me.’ He found her beside a spring of water, comforted her, and encouraged her to return to Sarai and Abram. She marveled at seeing the ‘One who sees me.’ But years later, after Abraham sends her away, we see her desperate, wandering about aimlessly until the water supply runs out. Distraught, she sat down, waiting for the worst to come. Perhaps the weight of her despair extinguished all hope that the God who had seen her once before was still there, still present, still ready to meet her need.
God Opened Her Eyes
I realized that like the psalmist, my Shepherd, my Lord sees me, provides for me, and ensures I have all that I need. My prayer is that He will open my eyes like He did for Hagar. To survive in the wilderness with her son, she needed water. “Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water.” God didn’t show her an empty promise or a one-time solution. He met her need.
May God do that for each of us according to our need. When we feel cut off from hope, or when we can’t see through the exhaustion of trying to figure it out on our own, may God reveal the resources He has for us in this season.
*For those of you who prayer walk, ask your Shepherd to open your eyes to the resources He has already provided.