Some People God Hears And Some ... Not So Much
(or so it seems)
It all boils down to what kind of universe we live in - open system or closed. Most of our daily functioning appears to be in a closed system - cause and effect, sowing and reaping, pull-yourself-by-the-bootstraps, pay the ticket, get on the bus, no-money-no-music, no miracles, etc. In the words of William E. Henley,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
It works up to a point. But life, real life, is generally lived beyond that point of mere existence. And in that realm, mastering my fate and captaining my soul appears to exceed my skill-set. Been there, done that. Dependable results every time - one word, shipwreck. Just not cut out for that job.
Mrs. Abraham, after a brief excursion into an open universe, found herself living in a closed system again. God feels absent. It feels like He isn't listening anymore. All the enthusiastic, joyful, hopeful emotions have gone down the drain and the memory of them makes today feel even worse. Decades upon decades of waiting immersed in all the crud one human being can dish to another when they feel better, superior, more favored... multiplied countless times... smothered in self-condemnation, sense of guilt, and being such disappointment to all around, not measuring up... For waiting on God never happens in an emotional vacuum... The longer she looked at that cradle the more unbearable it became. It's like having a Garden of Eden rerun with slightly different actors. Eventually, just like Eve, Mrs. Abraham also experienced unintended consequences of her ingenious move to secure fulfillment of God's promise with her own hand.
Suddenly her servant girl became arrogant, became cocky, for she actually had what her mistress didn't and that gave her an advantage, which, in her eyes, gave her permission to despise this woman God chose to be His vessel of blessing to the nations. That didn't go to well with Mrs. Abraham. Being despised made her, hmmmm... how shall I put it?... understandably mean. So she kicked Hagar out.
Welcome to the joyful world of captaining our own ships, mastering our own souls. For, this is what happens when we live in a closed system. Cause and effect, choices and consequences. Arrogance and meanness.
However, we don't live in a closed system. We live in an open system, in the world that we must not forget that there is God.
There is God.
And He is God who hears. (Genesis 16:11) God who hears the oppressor and the oppressed. The perpetrator and the victim. The CEO and the grunt.
And He is God who sees (Genesis 16:13)
What a shocking unfolding of the story (or maybe not, for we still see it played out every day by those who call themselves by Christians).
God's chosen people forgot, chose to ignore, failed to remind themselves that their God is the God who hears. Why bother praying?
God's chosen people were so overwhelmed and swept by derision, the pain, the weariness, the harassment, the agony, the injustice, the unfairness of their emptiness that they forgot that their is the God who sees. Why bother living a life of honor, dignity. righteousness and justice?
God used an outsider, a banished slave GIRL, an outcast and a foreigner who had to return and remind them of these truths.
Indeed, Your God is the God who Hears.
Indeed, Your God is the God who Sees.
Lord Jesus, the burden of waiting for the fulfillment of Your promise sometimes feels unbearable. Just as You have revealed Yourself to a banished slave-girl, who recognized You as the God who Hears and the God who Sees, reveal Yourself to us. Thank You, thank You for Your Living word and the encouragement it brings us even this day to trust You and resist the pressure to 'help' You fulfill Your Word.
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