Hi Friends,
This week’s meditation, an excerpt from From Recovery to Restoration: 60 Meditations for Finding Peace & Hope in Crisis, reminds us that when we are running and hiding in the midst of difficulty, Jesus is always running after us. When he finds us, he asks us two key questions that are always important to consider. I hope this message offers hope to you or to someone you love today.
Where have you come from, and where are you going? Genesis 16:8, ESV
When a massive wildfire has left us homeless, or an abusive boyfriend has left us loveless, when a co-worker’s betrayal has left us jobless, or a child’s unplanned pregnancy has left us speechless, we may feel like running away from our disastrous circumstances. If we run, we may end up in a wilderness, lonely and lost. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus himself meets us in that desolate place.
Hagar knew the desperation of disastrous circumstances. Her mistress, Sarai, unable to conceive, decided to use a method common in her culture to produce an heir—she would give her maidservant to her husband. When Sarai’s plan worked and Hagar conceived, Hagar became proud and showed contempt to Sarai (Genesis 16:4). Sarai, in turn, “dealt harshly” with Hagar (Genesis 16:6), and Hagar fled—back to Egypt. During her flight, by a spring in the wilderness, Hagar was found by the angel of the Lord (Genesis 16:7).
Hagar’s story reminds us of how the angel of the Lord, or Jesus himself, meets us in our desperate flight from disastrous circumstances:
- He finds us. He finds us because he hears our affliction, and he seeks us in our distress (Genesis 16:11, 13). He is the “God-who-sees,” the Jesus who is looking for us.
- When he finds us, he treats us with grace and favor. The Lord may ask us two crucial questions which re-awaken our hearts to his kindness:
- “Where have you come from?” (Genesis 16:8). This question re-orients us, asking us to remember how God has previously redeemed and rescued us.
- “Where are you going” (Genesis 16:8)? Like Hagar, we often take off without considering where we are going, and we may end up in a land of sin and unbelief. The question “Where are you going?” draws us to hope, to imagine how God will restore in the midst of disaster.
- The Lord calls us to return. Just as the angel of the Lord gave Hagar a hard command—to return home (where despite how we might see it, she would be provided for and even blessed), he calls us to come home to him and surrender to his plan and provision for our lives.
- He makes a promise of fruitfulness. To Hagar, the angel of the Lord promises that he will multiply her offspring. To us, the Lord makes the same promise: as we return to him, he will continue to grow us, to mature us, and to multiply his kingdom through us. Indeed, through his work in us, he will restore others to himself.
Dear friends, if you are fed up and feel like fleeing, pause for a moment and listen to the One who has already heard your cries. Return to him, and submit to him, and wait to see the story of restoration he will write through your disaster.
Prayer
Lord, Jesus,
Thank you for listening to our cries and for coming to find us. Help us to return to you and trust in you, even when we can’t see what you are doing.
In your preserving name, Amen.
Further Encouragement
Read Genesis 16.
Listen to “Who Is like Our God?” by Laura Story.
For Reflection
Spend fifteen minutes journaling about the two crucial questions, “Where have you come from” and “Where are you going?”
Advance Review for From Recovery to Restoration
“When the storms of life crash into our lives, the devastation left behind is often overwhelming. Recovery and healing is slow and arduous. Elizabeth Turnage’s devotional is for all those laboring toward recovery. From Recovery to Restoration is a hope-filled, gospel-laced, and Christ-exalting book which invites us into God’s story of redemption and helps us see how he is at work to redeem and restore all things, even the aftermath of our personal losses, heartaches, and trials.”
Christina Fox
Writer, Counselor, Speaker
author of A Heart Set Free: A Journey to Hope Through the Psalms of Lament.
