Author: Christine Wyrtzen

So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.  Genesis 21:14

What was it like when you got the worst news of your life?  You felt your stomach fall to the floor.  “This can’t be happening to me,” you said to yourself.  “I have to be dreaming and any minute, I’ll wake up from this nightmare.” 

Surely, these were Hagar’s thoughts.  Homeless?  Her life with Abraham had given her security.  Surely someone who loves and serves God wouldn’t be sending she and her son out to the wilderness to die!  Family doesn’t act like that!  Sometimes they do. 

And sometimes, what once seemed impossible has just fallen upon me.  I’ve been the recipient of earth-shattering news, several times.  I was numb for weeks before the tears set in. So, did Hagar weep as she left Abraham’s camp or was she also without feeling, walking but not in touch with her feet?

The very time I need God is the time I can turn away from Him without shedding a tear.  My theology can easily take a bad turn.  I believe God doesn’t see, doesn’t care, and has turned into someone who breaks His promises.  Oh, but this very moment a grand opportunity for faith, a time pregnant to ask for the grace to trust the One who appears untrustworthy. This is the time to put up my shield of faith. 

I know the battle.  I did it again this morning at 5:00 a.m.  Will you join me today where faith and faithlessness intersect?  

In my Hagar moment, I’m looking up instead of down.  Amen

And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.  Genesis 21:8-9  ESV

Sarah laughed for joy when Isaac was born.  But Ishmael laughed in scorn when Isaac was weaned.  A great party was thrown in Isaac’s honor and the scoffing of the elder son dampened the celebration.

If only Sarah could have done things differently years before. When God’s promise of conception didn’t occur for next 25 years, she concocted her own solution.  She told Abraham to sleep with Hagar to produce a son.  Oh, how that haunted her on this day as Ishmael, a son whom she also loved but conceived outside of God’s will, mocked her Isaac.  Paul described the dynamics well. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. Gal. 4:29 ESV

I can be sure that whatever I make happen in the flesh will collide with what God is doing through my spirit.  Dead works and Spirit-breathed endeavors strain against each other. One is of God.  One is not.  Children even perceive the difference.  Cruel things are said on the playgrounds as Christian children are despised and taunted.

Where is there holy conflict today?  Perhaps your church is a mixed bag.  There are righteous pockets of activity, places where God’s Spirit is breathing abundant life into those who are spiritually hungry.  This, unfortunately, co-exists alongside fleshly ministries that are birthed through ambition instead of prayer.  Enthusiasm is mistaken for holy fervor.  Know this ~ that whatever is of the flesh and whatever is of the Spirit ~ create sparks when in proximity.  There will be a kingdom clash that no amount of mediation will be able to fix.  What is the remedy?  Things of the flesh need to be exposed and repented of at the altar.  Oh, that our homes and churches would cease being divided kingdoms.

May Your kingdom come to the messes of our own making.  Amen

The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.  Genesis 21:1-3

As I look back at Abraham and Sarah’s life, it’s easy to see that God fulfilled every single promise.  But He did it in ‘His appointed time,’ not theirs.  From their perspective, He took too long.  While they waited, they doubted, they blamed, and then took matters into their own hands. Oh, how hard it is when promises take an interminable amount of time to materialize.

One day, when others look back at my life, they will see that God fulfilled every promise He made to me.  It is I who often struggle during seasons of waiting.  Because some promises haven’t come true when I think they should have, I can distrust the One who made them.  But as I review God’s mega-story, I am again overwhelmed with the nature and character of the Promise-Giver.  He has never, ever, broken His Word.

From the time God first promised the birth of Isaac, to the time Sarah conceived, was 25 years.  Yet, that’s nothing.  The ‘appointed time’ for the birth of Abraham’s greater offspring would occur 2,000 years later, in the birth of Christ.  God is never pressured to act outside of His perfect providence.

I have been guilty of judging my life, and my effectiveness, by worldly standards.  The prime of life, supposedly, occurs in one’s thirties.  By the time any of us are fifty, others assume that we’ve peaked and are near retirement.  It’s hogwash.  God didn’t even make the promise about Isaac until Abraham was seventy-five.  Some of the most effective trailblazers for the kingdom hadn’t even warmed up at fifty.  When God promises fruitfulness, it will not be compromised by our age, our education, our natural abilities, or the lack of.  When God calls us, we are equipped.  Period.  His promises will be fulfilled ‘at the appointed time’ and we can know this ~ it will be right on time.  In this we rest – as we wait.

You know what I still pray for ~ and in what promises I stand.  I adjust my clock to Your calendar.  Amen

And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing, [turn over your wife to me]?” Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’  Genesis 20:10-11

Sometimes it appears that I am completely hemmed in. I decide that the only way of escape is to make a choice I would never otherwise make.  I acknowledge that it is against my better judgement, perhaps even my conscience. Yet, my rationale overrules.  Self-protection drives me to cave in, engaging in something unwise.

Abraham was in a tough spot. He had traveled into heathen territory. He feared for the lives of his family. He assumed that the king would act in an unconscionable way, killing him, securing Sarah for himself and seizing all of Abraham’s wealth along with her. It’s not that Abraham failed to be realistic about people. Heathens had a track record for acting this way.  It’s that he assumed the worst about God. He believed God was not strong enough to keep His promises. As it turned out, Abimelech had a strong conscience and once he discovered that Sarah was Abraham’s wife, he trembled in fear over the sin he almost committed.

What Abraham also did, and I never saw this before, was throw temptation before Abimelech. He provided the perfect opportunity for infidelity.  My bad choices always affect others.

I have learned two things the hard way. 1.) When there is no righteous solution, I should not move. Wait on God until He makes a way where there appears to be none.   2.) When the righteous solution appears to have a bad outcome, I obey God anyway and trust Him to lead me into spacious places.

You are my hiding place.  You are my mountain mover.  You are the one who changes the hearts of those who have the power to harm me.  I vow to trust You and not myself.  Amen

In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Genesis 20:5-6 ESV

Does God ever see me when I’m about to sin and do something to prevent it? Apparently yes. And as a parent, I understand.  We often remove a temptation from a child because we know it is too much for them to handle.

To save the lives of his family, Abraham gave Sarah to a pagan king.  He did it to ‘help God’ ~ as he believed that he must take matters into his own hands to preserve the promises God had made regarding his descendants. Abimelech was the innocent party as he had no idea Sarah was married.  In making her a part of his harem, he would have slept with her but God intervened by revealing that Sarah was Abraham’s wife, not his sister. Fear gripped the king’s heart and he acted honorably toward Sarah for fear of the consequences.

I’m so glad that many of the things I have wanted, and asked for, God didn’t give me. God removed things, and people, that would have harmed me on my spiritual journey. It felt cruel years ago but time has revealed that God prevented dangerous detours in my spiritual journey. He kept me safe by saving me from myself. My spiritual immaturity would have acted out.

You may be experiencing the pain of loss. God seems unloving as He takes away what you believe you need. It can be a person, a resource, or an opportunity that holds promise. His direct involvement to block your way can be a stumbling block in your relationship with Him. The essence of Christianity is simple and childlike. Jesus loves me, He proved it, and I trust Him no matter what.  Period.

What is the answer when God appears guilty of withholding from me what is good? I remember this: The most brilliant rationales of men fall apart when measured against the goodness that drives the decisions of an omniscient and sovereign God.

However things appear today, You love me and always act in my best interest. When I distrust this, Lord, I put my heart in danger. Help my unbelief. In Jesus’ name, Amen

From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”  Genesis 20:1-3

Twenty years has passed since Abraham journeyed into Egypt, feared for his life while in the presence of a Pharaoh, and passed off Sarah as his sister to protect himself.  Pharaoh took Sarah as his own and God intervened to clean up the mess.  Now, Abraham is doing the same thing again.  Really?   He would do this twice?

But, it’s been twenty years after all.  It’s not like these events are weeks apart and the lesson of disobedience is still fresh.  After two decades, Abraham is having another crisis of faith and he falls again in an almost identical way.  Imagine that!  I am not going to throw stones as I review the ways I struggle with my faith and end up distrusting God in the exact same areas, over and over again.  There are patterns in my disobedience too. 

On this day, near the time of Isaac’s conception, Abraham’s choice to give up his wife to yet another king puts the entire Abrahamic line in jeopardy.  God is not passive as He watches this.  He is a Father who springs into action when Abraham messes things up.  His inexhaustible mercy causes Him to preserve the promises He made in covenant love.  For Abraham however, there will be a silent period.  His tent will be empty.  Sarah will be gone.  He will have nothing but time and quiet to reflect on His disobedient choices.  He cannot perceive all that God will do to rescue him.  Sarah’s absence screams hopelessness.

Are you in some crisis today?  Does it appear as if it’s the end?  You are also suffering in silence, unaware that God could be doing something on your behalf.  “Be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Phil.1:6  God was active in Abraham’s storyline and you can be comforted that He works behind the scenes in your story too.  Even when you and I mess things up, He makes a way for our return.  He never lacks the ingenuity to know how to get our lives back on track even though we’re sure we’ve done irreparable damage.  Oh, how powerful repentance is as it unlocks the power of heaven.  God gives us grace to, not only weather the damage, but to then correct our self-willed detour.

I’m counting on Your active participation in my story today.  Have mercy on me as I wait to see evidence of Your saving hand.  Amen

So they made their father [Lot] drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.  Genesis 19:35-38  ESV

Put yourself in the place of just one of Lot’s daughters.  You’ve been displaced from your home.  Your husbands are dead.  Your mother is dead.  All that is left are you and your sister, along with your father, but he is old.  He is not likely to re-marry and your entire future depends on having children who will care for you, sons who will carry on your family name.  What do you do?

They did not throw all their hopes on God and seek Him for a solution.  (Their father hadn’t done that by example either.)  They took matters into their own hands, got their father drunk, and each slept with him to conceive their solution.

One gave birth to the father of the Moabites and the other, the father of the Ammonites.  What a future they bred through unholy sexual unions.  Both peoples would be cruel to Abraham’s descendants.  Both peoples would worship famous idols; Baal and Peor.  Children would be sacrificed at their altars.  Yet, these two young women never saw into the future to understand the power of their choices.  For them, it was an immediate relief from a seemingly impossible situation.  From their limited viewpoint, their plan had been successful. They both held sons in their arms. 

Long-term outcomes are the problem when I take matters into my own hands.  I cannot see down the road either.  My own ingenuity can appear to have worked.  I might even thank God for it. (Can you imagine how He cringes?)  What I don’t know are the long-term effects of what I forced to make happen. 

I remember three things today.

1. Desperation should drive me to God, not to earth-bound saviors.
2. Desperation can never be a valid excuse for doing my own thing.
3. Desperation always impairs perspectives and sound judgements. 

When times are the toughest, I don’t move.  I look up.  I wait on You.  Amen

And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”  Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.  Genesis 19:17, 24, 26

Lot’s wife didn’t take God all that seriously.  She believed Him enough to know that she should flee the city but not enough to believe the consequences of looking back.  Is Lot responsible for that?  Perhaps she lived by example.

Not everything a wife does is her husband’s fault or vice versa.  We are each responsible for our own choices.  However, the faith or faithlessness of those near to us do affect us.  Parents who mock God will usually raise children who do the same.  Parents who live a religious life, void of the power of the Gospel, will probably see their family spurn religion, preferring alternate paths.

Lot had faith, but for the most part it was second-hand faith.  He had tagged along with Abraham, seen that God was real, but only followed God when it was convenient for him and his family.  His last major choice had been to choose the land of Sodom for his home.  He conformed to fit in a godless society, so much so that he became popular enough to rise to the status of mayor.  What do these kinds of choices communicate to Lot’s family? 

As the entire family fled Sodom, no doubt they heard the roaring fire and the screams of terror behind them.  They felt the heat on their backs.  They could see the glow of the flames out of their peripheral vision.  The temptation to look back was strong but because she’d never seen her husband pay a steep price for disobedience, she didn’t think turning around would result in the loss of her life.  It cost her everything in the end.

Will I be struck dead if I repeatedly disobey God?  Not likely.  But it will appear to those around me that I’ve gotten away with rebellion and disrespect.  There will be unwelcome fruit in other places and that might begin with my family.  Their eyes are always watching.

Am I flirting with what You asked me to avoid?  It’s hard to even ask the question.  Amen

Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place.  For we are about to destroy this place.”  Genesis 19:12

The members of Lot’s family don’t appear to have a deep and abiding relationship with God.  Yet, when it’s time for God’s judgment to come upon Sodom, the angels ask Lot to gather all members of his family for salvation.  God is invested in families because of the spiritual life of just one member.  If your heart is heavy over certain ones of your family, you’re not the only one who cares.  God does.  Why?

1. He loves you.  He cares about who you love.  He sees every tear you have cried over a son or daughter.  He feels the stress you feel over the fractures in your marriage.  When your heart aches, His heart aches.   You feel alone when you bear the burden of carrying your family in prayer?  You are not shouldering this by yourself.  Jesus rose again and lives to intercede for each of you. You often despair and think you are the only one praying?  You’re not. Jesus is!
2. God made families and He is invested in what He creates.  Families didn’t come out of nowhere.  God made Adam, then Eve, and invented the marital relationship.  Children were born because God made a way for families to be born.  The first outcry that reached heaven’s ears came when the first two brothers fought and one killed the other.  So broken was the heart of God!

Every single one of us thinks about eternity and it is a wonderfully bittersweet experience.  Ah, heaven and being with Jesus.  Finally!  But then comes the piercing thought of family who might not join us there.  God knows.  Just as He told Lot to go gather each member of his family, giving them the opportunity to hear of impending doom and to make the choice to leave the city, He will hear our prayers about those we love.  He is giving each one (though we may not know about it) many opportunities to be aware of Him and His Son, Jesus.  Every seed we have planted is not dormant.  It is active – stirred by the Spirit in their consciences and in their memories.

You invite me to bring my burdens to You and leave them.  Jesus, I will bring each person in my family, place them in Your lap, and pray while You work!  Thank you.  Amen

But the men [angels] reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.  Genesis 19:10-11

Two angels came to Lot and his family to protect them. They not only shut the door of his home to keep the gang from entering, but they struck them with blindness as well.  That didn’t deter them.  They were still obsessed with finding the door and breaking in ~ so strong was their obsession to inflict harm.

What does it take to submit to the hand of God?  A lot.  Man can be so stubborn. It usually takes a lot of time and pain to bring people to the end of themselves.   We want what we want.  The older we get, the more obstinate we become.  If children are not taught the sweet fruit of submission when they’re young, the desire for personal autonomy grows over time.  It’s so much harder to submit at 45 than it was when we were 4 years old.  That’s why children should be taught to obey the first time.  They are being prepared to say, “Yes, Lord!” when Jesus calls them.

You may be watching the Lord break the rebellious will of a loved one.  You may be shaking your head at how long it’s taking.  Though they feel the heavy hand of God, they still grope for the door that leads them to satisfy their cravings.  Though it may look hopeless, it is not.  While not all believe, some do.  Those who burn the brightest for the kingdom experienced a pivotal moment when they surrendered in the fire. 

If we are watching the crushing of that person we love, we must know that God knows their limits and frame.  We can trust Him even when He afflicts – even in our tears for their repentance.

Lord, I can’t stand to watch so give me grace.  Do what is necessary, quickly, to bring them to their knees.  I know Your justice but I am comforted that You are also limitless in mercy. Amen