WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Think about your own spiritual highs and lows. Ask God to help you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Hard to keep trusting Just when we thought Abram had turned a real corner and was safely on track to keep trusting God, Sarai his wife has other ideas, which he happily goes along with. It can be hard to stay steadily trusting God when those close to us are not inclined to do so. But again, can we blame Abram and Sarai? It is all looking so hopeless from a human point of view that it is no wonder that they take things into their own hands and try to engineer God’s promise. A messy family What a mess it causes! Every relationship is under strain and stress. Hagar despises her mistress, Sarai becomes bitter, the two women hate one another, Sarai blames Abram, he disclaims all responsibility, Hagar runs away. Talk about a dysfunctional family! You can feel the tension, pain and anger. God is gracious God is so gracious to each of them. In this chapter we see him deal gently, but firmly, with Hagar. He reaches out to her in her place of fear and darkness and tells her to go back into the situation she’s run away from – not an easy command to follow. However, the command is accompanied with a promise of many descendants. Hagar is the underdog, a pawn caught up in someone else’s game. Yet God sees her, meets her and gives her a future. Respond: Do you need the reassurance of knowing you are seen by the living God today? http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-03-24