15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ~ Genesis 21:15-21
Ishmael and Hagar were out in the beating sun. They were hot and dehydrated. Ishmael couldn’t go on anymore, so Hagar completely gave up. She set her son down under a bush and walked far enough away so that she didn’t have to watch him die. The moment she set him down to die was the moment she completely gave up all hope, and she spiritually died.
Where hope abounds, there is life, but the minute that hope is snuffed out, death comes. Hagar’s hopelessness wasn’t the beginning though, that’s not where she started. Hagar started with discouragement, then that led to sadness, then that led to depression. When depression proved too hard to battle anymore, complete and utter hopelessness overcame her, and her spiritual self died.
It doesn’t say that God placed a well there. It doesn’t say God caused a well to spring up for Hagar. It says God opened her eyes to see the well that was already there. Hagar’s hopelessness caused her to miss the very thing she needed to stay alive. It caused her to almost miss her saving grace.
It’s always darkest right before the dawn; that’s why when things get really dark, and you feel like you can’t take it anymore, you have to look for the light and focus on it. God will never allow us to just walk through completely hopeless situations where there is not even a glimpse of light to hold on to. Look at the night sky. No matter how dark it gets, the moon and the stars still shine in the sky, giving us the hope that the night can never prevail over the day because soon the sun will rise again, and the night will have to retreat until dusk.
When things get dark, we can’t give in and lose our spiritual sight. We have to hold onto the light so that when we get to our well, we can see it and rejoice.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch The Stars At Night.
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