Sunday Leftovers is an occasional series which shares a few “morsels” from the Sunday sermon. Some leftovers taste better the next day, but God’s word always tastes good, no matter when you chew on it. So enjoy the “leftovers” from my pastor’s ministry!
Running from Responsibilities
The first morsel I want to let you “chew on” is on the topic of responsibility. Genesis 16 is the record of Abraham and Sarai attempting to take up the slack where God hadn’t come through for them. Sure, that sentence sounds silly, but that is exactly what they were thinking. God had covenanted with Abraham to give him an heir. But when the heir hadn’t arrived yet, Sarai hatches her own plan to make it happen. Her plan involved her husband and her servant, Hagar. Abraham agrees, does his part, and Hagar becomes pregnant.
Sinful actions always leads to sinful fruit. The results of this fleshly plan were as follows: a servant who despised her mistress, a mistress who treated her servant severely, and a servant that runs from her mistress. Hagar just couldn’t take the harsh treatment and ran from the home. She found herself in the wilderness next to a spring when an angel of the Lord met her (I happen to believe this was Jesus in His preincarnate state). The angel confronts Hagar on her flight from responsibility, and uses questions to do so. This method of confrontation could justify an entire post of it’s own. Suffice it to say, use questions when you confront people. It’s wise.
Pastor Saylor pointed out that our natural response to chaos, difficulty, and trials, is to run. We see hard things and our flesh reacts by yelling “run!” But, responsibility means sticking with it and carrying on. Insert the usual caveats about extreme situations of course. But on the whole, you should stick with your responsibilities, even when it’s difficult. Saylor mentioned a good illustration too, which helped me to think this issue through in my own life.
Have you ever played baseball? Ever thrown or hit a ball through a window before? Especially if the home owners are gone, the temptation is to run before anyone notices you. It makes things so much easier. Right? Well, it may be easier, but it isn’t pleasing to the Lord. When God confronted Hagar, he wanted her to return to the responsibilities she was fleeing from. God also promised to bless her in the future.
We don’t necessarily have an audible blessing from the Lord when we do right. But we do have the trustworthy character of God that we can look to in the Scriptures. He cares for His people. He values obedience. He sees His own. So, no matter the difficulty, being faithful, as unto the Lord, is always what God wants. And we can also rely on His presence in those moments. Which leads to the next morsel I’d like to share from Sunday’s sermon.
Resting on God’s Presence
The second morsel worth chewing on is God’s presence. After God had questioned her about her situation, and she had realized that He knew the details, she said “You are a God of seeing.” She followed with “Truly, here I have seen him who looks after me” (Gen. 16:13). Notice that God was not unaware of the events taking place in the life of Hagar. He had “seen” all of it. Going foward, Hagar now would know that God was seeing her as she went back to her harsh mistress. She was not alone. Rather, she knew the presence of God was with her wherever she went.
Pastor applied this to our own trials. When we walk a dark and difficult path, God sees. when we face pain and suffering, God sees. When all seems lost and no hope seems to remain, we can be sure that God sees. He sees us and cares for us. Pastor then read Matthew 6:26-27. What an encouragement these verses are to all, but especially those in the midst of the darkness of the valley of suffering.
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Matthew 6:26-27
If something as small and insignificant as a sparrow is seen and provided for by God, how much more should we be able to trust the Father’s “wise bestowment” of all our trials and difficulties? Remember, no matter what is happening to you right now, God sees. You can trust Him.
So what about you? What was the best part of your Sunday meal? Why not shoot a friend a text and share it. Who knows, maybe they haven’t “eaten” anything yet today. 😉
Thoughts Worth Thinking 