Title: God's Fountain (May 10, 2009)
Contents
Word: Genesis 16:1-11
Subject: God's Fountain
1. Abram's wife Sarai was barren, and she had a maidservant, an Egyptian, and her name was Hagar.
2.Sarai said to Abram, "The LORD has not allowed me to bear fruit. Please sleep with my maidservant, lest I may have children by her." Abram listened to Sarai.
3. It was ten years after Abram had dwelt in the land of Canaan when Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maidservant, and gave it to her husband Abram as a concubine.
4. Abram slept with Hagar, and Hagar conceived, and when she realized that she was pregnant, she despised her mistress.
5. And Sarai said to Abram, "You deserve my reproach. I put my maidservant in your bosom, and when she realizes she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."
6 And Abram said to Sarai, "Your maidservant is in your hand, do to her what is good in your eyes." So Sarai mistreated Hagar, and Hagar fled from before her.
7. The angel of the LORD met him by a spring in the wilderness, by a spring of wine.
8. She said to her, Hagar, Sarai's maid, where are you from and where are you going? She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.
9. The angel of the LORD said to her, "Go back to your mistress and submit yourself to
10. And the angel of the LORD said to him, "I will multiply your descendants greatly, and I will make them too numerous to be counted.
11 And the angel of the LORD said to her, "You are with child, and you will bear a son, and you shall call him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your affliction."
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In life, people face many problems such as admission, employment, exams, and so on. And whenever that happens, I pray that God will show me the solution and let me hear it. But you should know that the most important thing is to believe before seeing and hearing. It is to stand firm in God's promises.
First, putting people's greed ahead of them makes them nervous.
God promised Abraham many descendants like the stars in the sky and like the sand on the seashore. However, Abraham could not stand the long wait, and he confirmed the promise of God that he had heard with both ears, that he even saw the stars in the night sky as evidence, and that the torch of God passed through the sacrifices when he offered the sacrifice of thanks. They broke their promise and, together with Sarah, resorted to human methods. It was not God's will, but my thoughts and my will. Even if it doesn't seem so bad from a worldly point of view, we should look at everything based on the Word of God. The Bible defines anything that is not based on faith as sin. Truly, the man of God, the man based on faith, the man God will use, does not take the lead in human methods. Even if we do not try to solve everything in human ways, God already has many better things in store for us. You have to live a life where you can experience God's existence while looking at God's providence and working with the eyes of faith, expecting and praying.
We often misunderstand that when God delays, He rejects us. All problems seem to be resolved soon, but God can make you wait longer. Above all, you need to know that your personal image, your religious image, and your vessel of faith must be prepared. Sometimes it takes passion and hard work, of course, but even more is the patience to wait for the Lord's hand.
Second, there is no human way left but strife, strife, and ruin.
We do not know how similar we are to Sarah, who did not believe in God's promise and tried to solve it in a human way, but when Hagar did not know the grace, she complained to others and passed the responsibility on to God. Far from repenting to God, they were busy blaming each other for the problem. And in the end, discord and contention arose in Abraham's family. When difficult and difficult things continue in our lives, we must wisely come before God and ask for His grace.
Third, God knows every person's condition and is waiting for Him.
Hagar is one of the people most hurt by the mobilization of human methods in Abraham's home. Hagar escaped Sarah's threat and fled to the wilderness, only to be a maidservant, but God did not give up on her and met her through a messenger by a spring. We must not forget that when we are faced with a crisis in life, that is the very moment we can meet God. Depending on how you overcome the crisis, the path can be a blessing. God is preparing a fountain of blessing for us.
Fourth, God solves human weakness.
An angel of God asked Hagar, 'Where did you come from and where are you going?' This is a question about your past and your future. God is asking what our faith is now. God visited even Hagar, who was deeply hurt by living a life of many hardships and adversity. God knows all our circumstances, pains, and circumstances. And he solved the problem that had arisen through human methods by meeting Hagar. Problems in life are solved when we meet God. God told Hagar, who had fled into the wilderness, to return and live in obedience to her master. The way back from the path I have chosen is the only way to return to God and the only way to answer. Hagar had nothing to worry about anymore after she met the great God who had nothing to solve. The problem has not been solved, it has been overcome. Hagar met and experienced God. And the spring where they met God was called Beer-lahai-ro. It means that God is living and seeing.
I hope that the place where we live today, and our Sandoll Church that worships God, will become the Beer Lahaeroi of our lives and the history of meeting God. Also, I hope that all of us will overcome the problems of life and live a wonderful life that glorifies God!