God of Suffering
Hey everyone! It’s your girl Julie, and I’m back with another segment of “Salty & Lit.” In today’s post, we’re going to be talking about the God of Suffering. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, You are good. Teach us to number our days and how to follow Your will. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
What if I told you that God is there in your suffering? There’s a woman in the Bible named Hagar, who was going through a tough time, and God met her where she was. Let’s journey through Genesis to find out.
At that time, Hagar was the maidservant of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Abraham’s wife Sarah couldn’t have children, so Hagar was given by Sarah, so Sarah could have children. However, the Lord promised that Sarah would have a child, but due to lack of faith, she took matters into her own hand and had Hagar become intimate with Abraham.
Hagar ended up with a child, whose name is Ishmael. Ishmael grew older, and Sarah finally had a child: Isaac. As Isaac grew, Isaac was mocked by Ishmael, and Sarah didn’t want Hagar or Ishmael to be around her or Isaac, so she kicked them out. Without a place to go, Hagar ends up in the wilderness and prepares herself to die along with Ishmael because they’ve run out of resources. Yet God steps in the middle and meets Hagar in her suffering. Let’s look at Genesis 21:17 which says, “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.”
The Lord hears, friend. The Lord heard the cry of Hagar’s son, and he went there to comfort.
The Lord hears. He asked Hagar what was wrong and gave her words of comfort.
Verse 18 states, “Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great for I will make him into a great nation.” Though she was in an empty place, the Lord provided by giving a word over her situation and leading me to my final point:
The Lord comforts. In verse 19, the Lord “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.” God offered a well of water, and it shows that He meets us in our suffering, as He did Hagar.
The enemy lies and says God doesn’t care about our sufferings, but God teaches us that He does. He is the God who suffers and meets us in our suffering, so my encouragement is to check out the God of all suffering. Amen.
