I’m happy to host Stephanie Smith of Read, Cook, Devour, who wrote wonderful insights from Genesis for us. Her thorough looks at Scripture remind us of the power of God’s promises to strengthen our hearts in hard seasons. Be blessed, and don’t forget to see her newly released devotional on 1 Samuel called Undivided!
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Usually when people talk about certainties, there’s a quip about death and taxes. When Jesus spoke about certainties, He assured us with the utmost sincerity that there will be insults and persecution―and that we are blessed when we endure those things.
“You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven.” Matthew 5:10-12 (CSB)
Blessing and reward sound great! That other stuff? Not so much.
How exactly are we expected to do this very hard thing; how can we be glad and rejoice in treatment that is paradoxically harmful and also the route to blessing and reward?
Hagar’s Testimony Of Healing
I imagine Hagar was similarly bewildered when, fleeing from the harsh mistreatment of her mistress Sarai, an angel of the Lord appeared to her and instructed her “You must go back to your mistress and submit to her mistreatment” (Genesis 16:9).
If there was ever a time that seemed fitting not to turn the other cheek, it would surely be when a pregnant slave is several days into her journey through a desert, escaping persecution.
At this moment, very little, if anything, could have persuaded me to heed those words. What was it, exactly, that gave Hagar the faith she needed to redirect her course toward enduring suffering?
The Lord’s next words to her were a divine promise:
“I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.
You have conceived and will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.
This man will be like a wild donkey.
His hand will be against everyone,
and everyone’s hand will be against him;
he will live at odds with all his brothers.” (Genesis 16:10-12)
Three things stand out and would have given Hagar the hope she needed to respond with faith.
1. “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.” Her family was being established by the Lord, and would continue. This present affliction would not be the end of her existence.
2. “…the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.” The Lord was not far off, but was near. He heard her and responded with care. This fact is emphasized in the name chosen for her son; Ishmael means “God hears.”
3. This little slave family would no longer be bound to serve another family, but would be free. Ishmael is described as being like a “wild donkey” and it is said that “he will live at odds with all his brothers”, which more literally means “live away from” or “to the east of.”
How kind of the Lord to not only acknowledge Hagar’s hurt, but to also heal it with a promise.
These promises brought healing because they revealed that the Lord saw the very depths of Hagar’s heart, for they spoke to her deepest desires and need.
“So she called the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees, for she said, ‘In this place, have I actually seen the One who sees me?’ That is why she named the spring, ‘A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.’ It is located between Kadesh and Bered.” (Genesis 16:13-14)
Hagar seems positively stunned by the realization that her eyes have just seen the Lord! The symbolism couldn’t be more fitting: the well fortified her physically, the sight of God fortified her spiritually.
Faith in His Faithfulness
Though the Lord called Hagar to do a difficult thing, He made it clear that His protection and care would go with her. Abram received a similarly difficult test just one chapter earlier.
After overtaking four invader-kings, Abram is offered enough plunder to set him up for life, but he says, “I have raised my hand in an oath to Yahweh, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten” (Genesis 14:22-24)
Having just exposed himself to military retaliation, with few resources on which to survive, Abram is exposed and afraid, and the Lord speaks timely comfort: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great” (Genesis 15:1).
Notice Abram does not immediately receive material stability, but a promise that God is protecting him, and that the reward for his faith will be great. That promise is followed by two days of conversation, where Abram is given some of the greatest promises in the Bible.
“The discrepancy between his present plight and the word of God could hardly have been greater, nor his helplessness more marked. But faith requires testing if it is to grow. Even more fundamentally, faith can be exercised only when its focus is unseen; once its object materializes faith ‘vanishes into sight’, and God, who has called forth faith, is proved faithful.” (Baldwin)
How often do we feel the pain of that discrepancy between our current experience and what God has promised us in His word?
Do your circumstances, like Hagar’s and Abram’s, seem perversely impossible? How can we possibly rise to meet such a difficult challenge of faith? What is our response when we are called to hope in an outcome we are helpless to achieve?
“Faith rests on the fact that God is faithful, and when we take God at his word we prove for ourselves his Faithfulness” (Baldwin).
Does the enemy taunt you with doubt and unbelief when God’s unfulfilled promises linger in troubling and overwhelming circumstances? What is your response?
Are you faithfully waiting for God to show Himself faithful? (Psalm 18:25)
Our Own Story of Hope
In the same way that God appeared to Hagar and Abram, He has appeared to us.
Jesus Christ, God incarnate, came down to bring the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham! Through the atoning work of Christ, we have been grafted in to the family of God. We have been included as Abraham’s offspring, the people of God!
Abraham was promised abundance and life extending far beyond what he could imagine. Jesus came down to extend that promise to us! “I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance” (John 10:10).
When our life is hidden in Christ, we can confidently endure affliction, knowing He is faithful to fulfill all He has promised us!
How has God called you to endure affliction (even mistreatment) by faith? Perhaps you’ve grown weary of extending forgiveness to the same person, again and again, and it’s painful.
Maybe you’re working under the authority of someone who treats you unfairly.
Perhaps you are part of a family that despises your faith and is out to humiliate you for it at every opportunity.
Are you hearing His promises for you? Are you seeing the One who sees you? Look for Him. He can be found. His words of hope are for you, and He will prove himself faithful!
“Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to You at a time that You may be found. When the great flood waters come, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance.” Psalm 32:6-7
Pastor John Piper suggests that in order to joyfully endure persecution, and even love those who persecute us, we must “find our hope and our deepest soul-satisfaction in God and his great reward — his future grace. The key to radical love is faith in future grace.
We must be persuaded in the midst of our agony that the love of God is ‘better than life’ (Psalm 63:3). Loving your enemy doesn’t earn you the reward of heaven. Treasuring the reward of heaven empowers you to love your enemy.”
Hagar and Abram saw the personal, rewarding love of God and they believed what they glimpsed would be fully revealed and experienced in God’s timing.
What about you? As you read the promises of God are you filled with faith to endure difficulty? Do you want to experience the glory of that heavenly reward?
May His faithfulness fuel your hope and the reward of His love be your reason to rejoice.
Scriptures to Hold On To:
“For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity; He will hide me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high on a rock.” Psalm 27:5
“May the LORD be praised, for He has heard the sound of my pleading. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I praise Him with my song. The Lord is the strength of His people; He is a stronghold of salvation for His anointed. Save Your people, bless Your possession, shepherd them, and carry them forever.” Psalm 28:6-9
“Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all. He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.” Psalm 34:19-20
“I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ He Himself will deliver you from the hunter’s net, from the destructive plague…Because you have made the Lord-my refuge, the Most High-your dwelling place, no harm will come to you; no plague will come near your tent… When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor. I will satisfy him with a long life and show him My salvation.” Psalm 91: 2, 3, 9, 10, 15, 16
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” Psalm 24:5
“Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.” 1 Peter 5:10
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Stephanie Smith writes at Read Cook Devour where she shares reliable recipes, strategies for kingdom-minded living, and devotional thoughts.
She recently published Undivided, a Devotional Bible Study in 1 Samuel. Stephanie lives with her husband and two children on the west coast of Florida. She is most likely to jump into a conversation about good food or impactful literature. In between housework Stephanie takes advantage of her sometimes-clean kitchen to cook or bake another mess. She enjoys a glass of wine, but can usually be talked into ice cream instead.
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What great insight you’ve given us in this post! We all will go through hardship so holding on to what God says is important!