Keep Focused and Know He Hears and Sees You

Introduction

The day was late and the men made their way to the boat after a hard, busy day. As they tried to cross from one side of the lake to the other, the wind increased. Each stroke of the oars seemed to be useless. It was the middle of the night and the wind grew to a place that the boat was battered by the waves.

All night this agonizing event went on. Tiredness was setting in from the lack of sleep. Muscles ached from each row that was getting harder and harder. Until morning when a man appears near them…in the middle of the large lake.

It is Jesus and Peter recognizes Him, climbs out of the boat, and walks on the water with Jesus. But, his eyes move from being fixed on the Savior to the wind tossed waves now crashing into him. His fixed gaze now fixated on the situation that surrounded him.

He begins to sink into the water, feeling the cold depths like icy hands wrap around his legs, waist, and chest. He cries out to Jesus, “save me!”

Why did Peter sink? He took His eyes off of Jesus. His faith became diverted, detached, interrupted.

Scripture speaks time and again about our focus related to faith. Faith is only as strong as the object of one’s faith. This is why is speaks of keeping our eyes on Jesus, lifting our eyes and keeping them fixed on Him.

It speaks of seeking God’s face, setting our mind or thought to Him, beholding or gazing upon Him, and/or seeking the Lord.

Why does it speak to this so much? Because the Lord knows how easily we can find our focus diverted, detached, interrupted.

Our text this morning is no different. A promised son is awaited. 10 years have passed since the Lord promised Abram a son to inherit the promise. A wife barren, a man aging, the waves of life rage around them. Slowly, but surely they lose focus.

Have you felt like that in your faith journey? Do you feel like that now? I’m sure we all can relate.

Genesis 16:1-6

We can immediately question Sarai’s choice to give a slave to her husband as a way to provide a child. But, she is struggling to understand, to believe. She knows who God is, yet, why is He not responding to her need? I think this hanging question for 10 years, 10 years of hoping, expecting, waiting has weighed on her soul and caused her to lose focus, drift, stray.

What led Sarai to lose focus?

She blamed the Lord

She tells Abram that the Lord has prevented her from having a child. Is she wrong? No. There is recognition of His sovereignty, yet there is a tone that indicates blame too. Tension has arisen in her faith. Here is what we don’t see in the text; Sarai seeking the Lord in what she is feeling or thinking and instead blamed God. “You’re the reason I feel as I do. You’re the reason I have no child.”

Perhaps a better approach would be like the man from the gospels who had leprosy who told Jesus, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” There is surrender in that statement. Trust in the person regardless of the outcome.

God is God. He is not subject to us, we are subject to Him. It is our role as such to come to Him when it doesn’t make sense, when the struggle gets real, or the pressure to take things into our own hands rises.

Far too often we blame God for not meeting our expectation. Why? Because we have assumed the place that is reserved for Him alone. Then, when it doesn’t go as we think, because we know He is sovereign and in control we blame Him.

Submission, not blame is what leads to deeper faith and trust.

Andrew Murray writes,

God does not ask you to give the perfect surrender in your strength, or by the power of your will; God is willing to work it in you…And that is what we should seek for - to go on our faces before God, until our hearts learn to believe that the everlasting God Himself will come in to turn out what is wrong, to conquer what is evil, and to work what is well-pleasing in His blessed sight. God Himself will work it in you.

She took matters into her own hands

Her plan was all by “human calculation” as one scholar put it. She put herself in place of God as the author of her life and concocted this plan. In the end, both agree to it and they have “overstepped a boundary that faith should have taken them a different way.” (Ross, 319) We established from Genesis 1 and 2 that God created marriage and designed it for one man and one woman. The first man to take on multiple wives was not good.

It is not our responsibility to be God. This is what got Eve in trouble in the first place. “You will be like God…” Sarai’s action here is to do what she thinks best, but not to do what the Lord desires. Obedience, even when it is hard to understand or see the outcome reveals faith and love of the Lord.

To be fair, this was widely accepted socially or culturally as a way to have an heir. However, this was not God’s plan. We cannot supercede God’s plan with what might be acceptable socially or culturally. Just because it is, doesn’t mean it is acceptable to God.

The sin of taking God’s place promises joy and life, yet it actually diminishes hope. Hardship often happens when we resist the plan of God and make our own.

Abram didn’t lead her well

Abram agrees to the plan. God was not even sought by either of them. Godly counsel should always point us to keeping our eyes fixed on God. Abram as her spiritual leader needed to stand in the gap strongly for her and failed. Reminiscent of Genesis 3 where God issues consequences against Adam. Why? Because he listened to his wife and disobeyed God.

In moments when we may feel like Sarai is feeling and not understanding God’s plan or purpose; we can often seek counsel that is simply a yes to what we want or affirming our feelings without biblical foundation. We seek people who will tell us what we want to hear, rather than what God wants of us. In the end, we are not led well.

Proverbs 12:15 “15 A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to [wise] counsel is wise.”

Proverbs 1:7 “7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

She may feel unheard

While we don’t see it in the text, I think there is an underlying issue at hand. She does not feel heard by God. Perhaps for 10 years she prayed, wept, cried, exhausted herself awaiting on Him. He isn’t cruel, but He has a particular plan and timing for that plan. This is a struggle of faith. A time of growth in trust in Him. God is not obligated to answer us, but it doesn’t mean He is not hearing us. Our clue that this might be the case comes later in the text.

She is not alone in feeling this way. Psalm 13, Psalm 22, Psalm 10, Psalm 44, Psalm 42; all express moments when the author feels like God is silent or not there. I cannot explain why God does this from time to time, but I know that it often is designed to draw us closer to Him, not drive us away.

She mistreats Hagar and Abram

Hagar gets pregnant and we are told Sarai becomes contemptible to Hagar. She even blames Abram for her suffering. He went along with it, but ultimately it was her plan. Sarai’s own sin, disobedience, and loss of focus upon God as led her to mistreat those closest to her.

When our relationship with the Lord is not right, it often manifests in how we treat others, particularly those closest to us. This is why Jesus attaches the two. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

I have been Sarai

I don’t want to come down too hard on Sarai, because I have been her. I’m sure you have too. Learning to trust in the Lord and His plan and promise even when it doesn’t make sense is hard. Learning to lean into Him instead of taking matters into our own hands is hard. Walking with God when He is silent is hard.

When marriage got hard, when financial strain took a toll in ministry or pursuing education; when churches or ministry struggled or failed, when we lost a child, when I lost a parent, when people around me have suffered, when your name is slandered or gossiped about, when I have prayed for something for years waiting on an answer, when I was unsure of a decision, when my kids are struggling, when my wife is struggling, when people around me are hurting, when the Enemy seems to be winning the fight…In all these I have responded in some capacity as Sarai has. Not always, but many times.

Every time, though, I have had to learn from the Lord in these moments to be able to say as Psalm 42 says,

Psalm 42:5 “5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.”

This is where Genesis 16:7-15 comes into play.

Genesis 16:7-15

The narrative shifts from Sarai to Hagar now. She ran away from Sarai and Abram due to Sarai’s mistreatment of her. The narrative is not so much about Hagar as it is the Lord’s response. Scholar Allen Ross says,

It is important in studying narrative literature to concentrate on the dialogue, especially the speeches from the Lord, for they usually underscore the point of the narrative. In this passage the story itself is not the message, the Word from the Lord is the message, and the story is the setting for the Word.

The Lord meets Hagar where she is

The angel of the Lord finds Hagar in the wilderness. The wilderness is often used as a motif to mean wandering, lostness, brokenness. Hagar is there physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Sarai is there spiritually as well. Hagar has truly done nothing wrong in any of this. Yet, in her brokenness caused by another, the Lord meets with her.

Who is this angel of the Lord? Some believe it is an angel, but some scholars believe this is an early Christophany. A moment in which a preincarnate Jesus shows up. I tend to lean toward a Christophany for this moment, but either way the presence of the angel of the Lord is indicative of the presence of God.

There is an important truth for us here: God meets us where we are. That ultimately comes in the fullness of His Son, Jesus who is God in the flesh who dwelt among us. But, we see time and time again, the Lord coming to His people in their deepest, hardest time of need. Moses as a burning bush, the people of God as a pillar of fire and smoke, Jacob who wrestled with God, Elijah in a famine provides for him; Shadrach, Meshach, and Obendego in the fiery furnace, Daniel in the lion’s den, Jesus with the woman at the well, the disciples on the boat in the storm.

Even when it seems as though He is silent and might be for a time, know that the Lord will meet us where we are if we wait upon Him.

Hagar is broken. Sarai is broken. Both need the presence of God. Sarai will get her moment in chapter 18. What does the Lord speak to Hagar?

She is to go back to Sarai. While the Lord meets her where she is, He also doesn’t let her stay in that place. Restoration must take place. He also promises blessing, but it is the name of her son and the name she gives to God that bear the heart of this narrative.

God hears you

Ishmael means “God has heard”. This lesson I think is for Sarai and Hagar. From the depths of our cries and questions, the Lord hears us. Sometimes we just need the reminder. This narrative is just one of many that the Lord hears us, even in His silence for a time.

When I was at my previous church, things were good. But over time we struggled. Attendance went from 300 to about 175 average. We were hurting financially and even had to reduce staff. We were lethargic and it felt as though I and another staffer were plugging so many holes on a sinking ship riddled with holes.

I began to meet with a friend every week and we would hold each other accountable to the Lord and we prayed for our church. I eventually invited others to join, but no one would. For the better part of a year to a year and half we prayed for the Lord to intervene. I tried to leave the church a couple of times by sending out my resume, but the Lord blocked every one of them. I was mad, hurting, and couldn’t see His plan in all of this.

After a time changes came. A new spirit was enlivening us. New leadership came. Men of our church started gathering to pray. Desperation set it and instead of trying to accomplish what we could of our own, we surrendered to Him. It was the critical moment I learned the lesson- God hears us even if He is not responding immediately. His timing was perfect, I just needed to trust.

Perhaps you are here and you have been praying for that child of yours who is prodigal. Perhaps you have family brokenness that feels like a plague. Perhaps you have people who need healing. Perhaps you are walking through thoughts that are dark and weighing you down. I want you to know and I want you to see from this text…He hears you…keep calling out to Him.

The Lord sees you

The name Hagar gives to the Lord here is El-roi which means “The God who sees me”. Both Hagar and Sarai feel as if they are unseen by the Lord in their own ways. Yet, Hagar recognizes that in the presence of God meeting with her, the Lord sees her. Not only does He see her, He sees all things.

His providential work comes at the right time. Proof of His providential work? Abram names the child Ishmael. Eventually God will provide for Abram and Sarai at the right time.

It is easy to feel in God’s moments of silence as though He is not keeping watch or you are nothing more than a face in a sea of faces to Him. The truth is, the Lord does see you and sees all things and is presently and actively working.

Christ Connection

How is Christ connected to this text?

The apostle Paul draws figuratively from Sarah and Hagar and their children to speak of Christ and the gospel. In Galatians 4:21-26, he relates Hagar to those under the covenant of the Law of Sinai that produces slavery and Sarah to those under the covenant of Christ through the promise of a Savior. This is very simplified to what Paul says. But it is Galatians 4:4-7 that is our focus.

Galatians 4:4–7 “4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.”

It is only from the Promised one, God’s Son, Jesus Christ that we are made free from the law. The law reveals our sin and our brokenness with God. It is through Jesus in the salvation He brings by the cross and resurrection that we can be pulled from being children of slaves to sin to adopted as sons and heirs of God.

How does this come about?

Galatians 3:24–26 “24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.”

As a result our lives are no longer our own, but Christ’s:

Galatians 2:20 “20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

In Christ we are granted a restored relationship with God the Father. In that restoration, we have access unhindered by sin to a God who sees us and hears us.

Conclusion

This morning I have a song with lyrics as our time of response that I want us to hear, even sing with if you so choose. I want to extend this time for you to come to the Lord, either in salvation through His Son, or to bring before Him what weighs on you.

Don’t let silence or even your own misunderstanding of what God is doing lead you like it did Sarai. Come to Him and He will meet you.