Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

PROVISION IN POVERTY A fine Christian family suffered a series of severe setbacks. The father lost his job because of ill health; one daughter had a serious operation which hospitalized her for months; and the other children also encountered sickness. Finally, the financial resources were gone and the family struggled desperately, but God brought them through. Later, the mother testified, "I feel sorry for those who never face what we did because they will not know the wonderful thrill of seeing God miraculously provide in hours of deepest need." This must have been how Hagar felt after her experience in the wilderness. Deserted, lonely, and dying, Hagar found the God of Abraham had not and would not forsake her. She had been treated unfairly and victimized by jealous Sarah. Driven from her home and security, Hagar and her son seemed destined for death. However, God never forgets His creation and sent an angel to comfort her. Her eyes were opened, and she saw the miraculous provision of a loving God. No doctor measures his prescriptions more carefully than God when He prescribes trials for His children. He wants them to know the thrill of complete trust in a never-failing God. What Hagar learned in her trial we, too, can know--God delivered in distress and provides in poverty. We must remember that God makes a promise to protect and provide for His own. Isaiah noted: Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me" (Isaiah 49:15-16).