WTFMT 81 (FROM HGM ON 8 SEP 20)

WILDERNESS TRUTHS FOR MODERN TIMES-81

TEXT: "And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is." (Genesis 21:17)

 

I. WHERE IS GOD??

 

A. God brought Hagar to the place of need and despair. God also brings us there. God uses the same means and method today that He used in the Bible to bring us to a place in Him He desires we come into. We often sing songs about God not changing, "He Changes Not" then expect Him to do a "new thing" in our lives and He does. "It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23) His mercies and compassion are new every morning, but His faithfulness is old and has never changed.

B. This situation caused her to make a discovery. It was in her hour of greatest need when she expected only death. God came through and revealed His sufficiency to her at that and time of nothingness. There at that place, then, at that time Hagar made a discovery.

C. So too with the children of Israel during the entire 40 years of wandering God brought them to a place and time to reveal His sufficiency during their time of nothingness. And so too God brings us to the same place and time for the same reasons.

D. Hagar could never have made her discovery unless she had become desperate and had cried out in despair. The very place of need and despair was the very place God was. God is at the end of your bottle of water and at the end of your strength. This is where God hears and speaks. This is where God is discovered in greater in greater fulness.

E. In this place of need is where God is discovered in greater fullness. Hagar would never have come into these wonderful experiences with God if she had never entered the wilderness. She never would have known Him as she did apart from her despair in the wilderness.

F. The wilderness is the place where God hears. And God heard the voice of the lad; AND for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is." What an amazing event. God met the Hagar and lad in the place where they were. God came to them. This is the heart of God to come to us just as we are.

G. It is not necessarily true that Hagar or the lad was crying unto the LORD. They certainly were crying. But, the Bible does not state they were praying to God or crying out to the LORD. She lifted up her voice and wept due to the fact of her situation. Sounds familiar?

H. In the absence of a prayer or cry to God there is an amazing thing about God. He is aware of our heartaches and tears even non-believer's. Even though we do not take them to Him or express them to Him, yet He is aware.

I. For God to be God He must know EVERYTHING. Nothing is unknown to God especially our hearts. EVERYTHING done in secret will be made manifested openly, "and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly" is recorded in Matthew 6:4,6, and 18. Nothing is hidden from God and everything is rewarded "openly" by God, for all the world to see.

J. Remember, God does the rewarding based upon our labors and the motives and intent of our hearts. Never forget a curse and a blessing both are rewards which we have earned from our words, actions, and deeds. "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour." (1 Corinthians 3:8)

 

II. PARTING THOUGHTS

 

A. In the Bible God moves on behalf of others without an approach being made to Him, without a prayer said. The widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-15) Jesus comes along and has compassion and raises her son. She didn't request that. She didn't ask God to do that.

B. Likewise God may come to us in our hour of distress when we are beside our self. We feel and believe that He is a million miles away. We cannot pray we just have a good cry. Been there before? God sees. He hears. He arrives. He has compassion. He meets our need.

C. He (God) heard a voice, a sound (voice and sound are the same Hebrew word #6963) God heard this sound coming from the wilderness. Someone is crying! The results of God's hearing a "sound" or "voice" is God coming and Hagar discovering. She discovers that God cares for her "What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is." D. Don't be afraid, God has heard and has come to take care of us in our distressful situation. Isn't God nice? He is ever thoughtful of us more so than we realize. For us God in there in our distressful situations. He is sitting there beside us as we cry. Your Provision had come.