The One Who Lives And Sees Me.

Hey, guys!  I just wanted to drop you a little line to share my favorite event from the Old Testament.  This is so encouraging and I hope you love it too.

This is the background:

 God promised to give Abraham and Sarah a son.  A son who would become important and turn their family into a huge and important nation.  The nation that the Messiah (the Savior of Humanity, The Way to Heaven) would be someday born into.  But Sarah got impatient and decided God needed her help with this whole son thing.  So she and Abraham decided that Abraham should have a son with the maid, Hagar.  Hagar got pregnant and uppity and started being mean to her boss Sarah.  So Sarah whined to Abraham and Abraham basically said "do what you want, she's your maid".  So Sarah was harsh to Hagar.  So Hagar, the maid, ran away...

Genesis 16: 7-14

"The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur.  The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.

The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress.   This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”  

Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”  So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered."

 

God sees you.  He lives and He sees you. You are important to Him.  No matter what anyone else says, sees, hears or thinks.  God SEES you.  He HEARS you and He CARES about you. 

Hagar was unimportant.  A maid.  A mistake.  The other woman.  She wasn't part of God's plan to bring the Messiah.  But Hagar was important to God.  He heard her, He saw her and He cared.

 

1 Peter 5:6-11

"So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.  In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.  All power to him forever! Amen."



When You Become the Fist of Goodness...

 

I love this series of DIRECTV commercials!!!  Sooo Funny! But they remind me of something (as usual). 

I was thinking the other day about a bad habit I have.  And then another day about a new bad habit that was cropping up and I remembered these commercials. The series of events on this commercial is like temptation in my life.  I let myself get away with one little sin and it causes another that causes another and then I realize I have this sinful habit!  Woops!

Here's a non-me example so that I don't have to embarrass myself:

 

When you daydream about becoming famous and important, your real life seems hard and boring...

 

When your real life seems hard and boring, you get cranky...

 

When you get cranky, you yell at your boss, have a fight with your friends and break things...

 

When you yell at your boss, have a fight with your friends and break things; you end up jobless, homeless and in debt...

Don't end up jobless, homeless and in debt!

 

Here's another one:

 

When you think a lot about how you look, you want to be good-looking...

 

When you want to be good-looking, you get jealous...

 

When you get jealous, you feel sad and angry...

 

When you feel sad and angry, you make fun of someone...

 

When you make fun of someone, someone cries...

 

When someone cries, you get punched in the nose...

Don't get punched in the nose!

 

My point is that sin snowballs.  It grows and builds on itself.  And it ends up with us acting like jerks and getting bad consequences.  So we have to try to cut it out when it's just a dumb, little thought.  Because that dumb little thought is actually a sin.

 

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure."  

1 Corinthians 10:13

 

By the way, I don't have anything against becoming "The Fist of Goodness".  But only in a strictly law enforcement, super hero, defending the innocent sort of setting. Because, you know, " 'Vengeance is Mine' says the Lord".