Windows to the Soul

[0:00] A Pastor's Reflections, Windows to the Soul, Genesis 16, 7. And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness.

[0:14] Psalms 139, 11 and 12. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hides not from thee, but the night shines as the day.

[0:27] The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. Ephesians 1, 18. The eyes of your understanding, being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

[0:45] The word for fountain in Genesis 16, 7 is literally translated, I. Hagar sat down by an eye, an opening of water. It was at this eye of water that the angel of the Lord interrupted Hagar's escape plan.

[1:02] What Hagar was going to do once she arrived in Egypt is anyone's guess. But thankfully, she never had to find out. God graciously stepped into Hagar's world, her world of misery, to speak to her struggles and redirect her steps.

[1:18] Why? Because Hagar, for all of her faults, was under a blessing. She had come within the house of Abram, the house of faith. And the blessing that comes with being a part of that house was unavoidable.

[1:34] Hagar's life, up until this point, has been characterized by what she was able to see with her eyes and discern with her senses. We are told that her mistress, Sarai, had become despised in her eyes.

[1:48] Why? Because Hagar could see nothing of value in Sarai beyond what she could produce. Sarai became less in her eyes because Sarai could not produce for the kingdom.

[1:59] As Hagar's situation becomes more dire, she chooses to process her place in life through those same eyes of her own understanding. The result?

[2:11] An ill-timed journey that ends in a wilderness. However, it is in the wilderness of her own decisions that the Lord's grace finds Hagar. As her choices, based upon her view of things, fail, God steps in to give Hagar a new understanding.

[2:30] An understanding based upon how God sees things, not Hagar. Genesis 16, 11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard thy affliction.

[2:50] Genesis 16, 13 And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou, God, seest me. For she said, Have I also here looked after him that sees me?

[3:04] At the wilderness fountain, Hagar has a watershed moment. God sees me. He saw me when I was in what looked to be a terrible situation. Not only did he see me, but he has a plan.

[3:17] God's plan for Hagar was to return to the house of faith and blessing. But she wasn't returning the same as she had left. No. Hagar now knows that the same God who saw her in the wilderness is the same God who sees her in the frustrations of her daily routine.

[3:36] And he's the same God who will always see her. In Christ, you and I have been brought into the house of faith and blessing. We too are inescapably under blessing and inescapably under the watchful eye of our Heavenly Father.

[3:54] The question is not if our Father sees us, but do we see that he sees us? Whether in the wilderness or in the daily routine, live in the light of the knowledge that God sees, God knows, and God cares about every part of your life.

[4:15] Father, thank you that nothing is hid from your sight.

[4:38] Thank you that you already see the outcome of every foolish decision of sight and self-effort that I make. Thank you that you meet each and every one of those decisions with your grace.

[4:52] Give me eyes that look to you first. Amen. Amen. Amen.