By Dan Jackson, Atherton Resident since 2016
Genesis 21:15-20
When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. ‘I don’t want to watch the boy die,’ she said, as she burst into tears. But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, ‘Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.’ Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy as he grew up.
Questions for reflection:
- Do I believe that God is still able and willing to do the miraculous?
- What impossible feat do I need to trust God for today?
Thought for today:
When our first child was eight months old, she woke up one morning unable to lift her head, her neck would not support it. Tammy had been perfectly fine when we put her to bed the previous night. As first time parents, we were very frightened. Our doctor placed her in the hospital where she remained in traction for two weeks. Even after more than fifty years, the memory is still fresh of her little body being pulled repeatedly by the weights attached to the head of that bed.
Our doctor showed Tammy’s X-rays to other experts, and finally concluded that he could send her home with a neck brace and that she would have to wear such a device the rest of her life.
But during that hospital stay, my wife felt that the Lord gave her the promise that Hagar was given in this passage. They had been wandering helplessly in the desert; and just like ours, Hagar’s hope had deserted her. But God stepped in with a miracle. Our Tammy was an infant girl, Ishmael a teenage boy, but the message to us was inescapable, “God would be with the child as she grew up.”
Many prayed for Tammy and for us as we took her home. The next morning when she woke up she was miraculously well, and never wore the neck brace again. Today, Tammy is a successful CEO, and has run in half-marathons for several years. Now she’s running in marathons, with an ambitious schedule to run in a series of the world’s great one! Africa is already on her schedule. God’s promises are marvelous and his healing power is great!
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