Genesis 21:14-21 Bible Study | Episode #285

November 11, 2022

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Genesis 21:14-21  Bible Study | Episode #285

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

If you would like to revisit today’s Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. 

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Alive, Applying God's Word to your daily life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up his word to you and allow you to see him and to know him.

And to know his will, that you might glorify him, and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today in Jesus' name. Good morning. Welcome to Lake Community Churches. Morning Bible study. It's good to be with you this morning. We're in right in the middle of the book of Genesis, chapter 21.

And we are dealing with Hagar and her son Ishmail after Isaac is born. And there's a jealousy that has developed in the household and that is spilled out to the boy. And he's there and he's struggling and. And Sarah sees it and Sarah says Sarah says, Listen, I am I'm we can't have this going on.

And she instructs Abraham to. To let them go. And God tells Abraham that he's supposed to let him go. And it is a great passage of scripture to see a couple of things that I think are points or ideas. Or understandings that are of the utmost importance for you to understand as you study as you think through God's word.

And there are the utmost importance to understand for life itself. And I'm eager to go through it with you this morning. It says in verse 14, and we're reviewing from yesterday just to one verse. So Abraham rose early in the morning and he took bread, a skin of water and put it on her Should.

And he gave her, gave it and the boy to Hagar and sent her away, noticed he's given her bread and water. That's a picture of the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit. And it's a picture of the word of God, the bread of life. And he said it's also a picture of fellowship. Then he, then she departed and wandered in the wilderness of beer.

She, and we talked about that wilderness experience being a necessary experience for all believers. It's a utmost necessary experience. And if you didn't get that go back to yesterday's Bible study. We talked about that for about five minutes. Every believer has to go through wilderness experience.

It's your time to learn how to use your faith and. It's a time where you're alone. It's a time where nobody nobody can help you in the sense of they can't fix anything for you. You and God have to deal with it on your own. And it is a great experience even though it is not a fun experience.

How many of y'all have ever heard of a military man talking about basic training? None of 'em ever said they just loved it, but every one of 'em remembers it. And the reason they remember it is because because it's It's a life changing experience. How many of you ever heard of a woman talking about childbirth?

It's not a fun experience, but it's a life changing experience. It is a life altering experience, and it is a good experience in the sense that it makes you into who you need to be. And that wilderness experience is of the utmost importance. And we know that because even Jesus had to spend 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness learning how to exercise his human faith, even though he was God.

And as a human, we have to learn how to do that. It says, And the water in the skin was used. And she placed the boy under the shrub. I don't want you to miss that because that's important. She actually used the water. She actually used up the Holy Spirit. Now, remember. God said to the woman at the I will give you living water that will spring up to eternal life within you.

She said where can I find this and give it to me? She said, I want, and I'm quite sure. That Hagar was the same way she wanted it. We're gonna see that God is always a provider and he's one who's never, ever leaving you alone or leaving you without anything. It says, and the it says, Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bow shot, which would be probably close to a hundred yards for.

She said to herself, Let me not see the death of the boy. So she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and whipped Couple of things that happened here. She is in a situation where she is absolutely desperate for God. She's desperate. She believes all is lost. She believes that the that the series of events that have led her to this place in life.

Has placed her in a place that's there, there is no hope. There is no chance, there is no place, there's no place to go. There, There's nothing to do except for you just to sit out there in the wilderness and die because God God is not able to save her. At this moment, he's not able to, man.

A lot of times when we make horrible decisions in. A lot of times we come to the place where we think that all is lost, that we have ruined our life. And there's really no use in going on any farther because life is over life that we perceive to, to be what God wanted for us.

We have ruined, we've gotten ourselves outside of God's will, and therefore we are completely and utter. Lost, and we can never find our way back to anything that's going to be near as good or near as important or near as well as we had before. Now, if you haven't ever experienced that, then you've really not experienced life, and if you've never experienced that, you haven't gone through your wilderness experience for sure.

And it, it is. It is a melody, it's a situation, it's a mindset that's common to man. I have ruined my life. I have done something, or I have done a series of things that has caused my life to come to a place where there is really no hope. I am totally ruined myself and there is no chance for me to have anything good or anything of importance in life to come.

And I wanted to tell you today, that is a damnable. From Hell. It is not from God. It is not from God at all. And if they, if you find yourself in this position listening to this morning or sometime this day, or this week, or maybe even 20 years in the future, if you find yourself in this position, I want you to hear me.

If that does not come from God, you cannot ruin yourself so bad that God can't fix you, and you can't ruin your situation in life so bad that God can't step in and make something who new. That is wonderful, powerful, fulfilling, and purpose-filled for his will. You cannot do that. If you could, then the blood of Jesus Christ would be insufficient and it is not.

It is not. Insufficient. You need to hear that this morning. He is a God who sustains. He is a God of the second chance. He's a God of the third chance. Praise God. He's a God of the millionth chance. He is always at work. He knows the Posture of your situation. He knows where you're at. He knows what you're struggling with.

He knows what's going on every day in your life. You need not be out there in despair in the sense that you have totally destroyed yourself. Now, are you gonna face the consequences of your sin and consequences of the things that have happened to you in life maybe that other people have done? Yeah, you are.

That doesn't mean that God doesn't have the power to deal with it. That doesn't mean that God doesn't have the power to glorify himself through it. And that doesn't mean that God doesn't have the power to give you his very best and give you hope and life and purpose in the midst of it.

Just because that's true doesn't necessarily mean that your life is lost and hopeless. Hay guards out there in the wilderness. It is a bad situation. It's a bad situation that she didn't have a lot to do with. Tell you the truth. Sarah sent her in to Abraham. I guess she could have refused. She probably could have, But the issue was is that she didn't refuse.

She went in, she had a child with Abraham who was not her husband, and. That was never going to be a perfect situation. If there ever was a son of his wife, that was never gonna be a perfect situation to be in. There was always gonna be jealousy. There was always gonna be problems. It came to a head when the new baby's born.

And and when he is weaned and there's a festival, the other her son. Ish. Mail's gonna be a little bit, He's gonna be I guess you just best way to describe it. He's gonna be a little bit. Jealous. He's gonna be a little bit not unnerved by it because he had ti he was the air and now he's not the air that's gonna be a problem.

And then when that manifests itself and she finds herself in the wilderness, it seems like all is lost. It seems like they've gone from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the sea, and they just don't have a chance and there's just no way to get out. That's the way they see it. That's the way, that's the way the situation she finds herself in is the only way to read it for her.

Now, that does not factor in at all. Anything I just said to you about her situation in this moment does not factor in God at all. It just totally factors in. The the actions and the and the decisions made by human beings. And if God was not involved, her situation would be hopeless, but God.

And that's the key. Anytime you find you amp self in that situation, but God is always the next two words. God is not out of the situation. God's not unknowledgeable about the situation. God's not uninvolved in the situation he is. And and he is always listening and he has heard her and he's heard what she's had to say.

Notice she is lifting her voice and weeping. She is calling out to God, which is exactly what ought to happen. We ought to always bring in the superhero of heaven into the situation we find ourselves in life. We ought to bring him in the quiet still of the morning when it's wonderful, like out there today when it's just a little bit cool in the morning.

We had to call him in. And we ought to call him in the most tumultuous, devastating situations that we face each and every day in life. We ought to call him in all the time. We ought. We ought to do it all the time. You ought to be a part of it all the time. She finds herself in the devastating situation.

She cries out to God. That is the exact thing she ought to be doing. It says in verse 17. And God heard the voice of the lad. Notice God knows who this boy is. He knows who Ishma is. He's not tuned out. He's not uncaring. He knows who Ishmael is. He knows what's happening here.

He says, Then the angel of God called Hagar. Notice this is the angel of the Lord. This is Jesus himself. He calls to Hagar out of. He doesn't mean you have to come down. He just stands up and calls out from heaven and he says, He said, and he said to her, What ails you? Hagar? What he's saying is, You've dealt with me before.

You know I'm the God who sees. You're the one who gave me that name. You're the one who first realizes I'm the God who sees if you are the one who realizes that you ought to be the one who walks in it. And you know that's a truth. That always happens too. We always come to a place where we we've walked with God through a situation.

He's revealed himself to us in that situation. And then, We just do what humans do. We forget. We forget that he's, God, we forget that he's actually moving. We forget that he did that thing in the past and sometimes, praise God, God's got a good memory. He knows everything. And he reminds us, Hey, how you are?

Whoa. What are you doing down there? You know me. Why are you down there looking at your son at a bow shot away and just sitting there and dying? I'm not the God who don't see, I'm the God who does see. And so he says fear not and them some good words from God. He says that all the time in the Bible.

Have y'all noticed that? He says that all the time. Why? Because fear's the opposite of faith. We don't need any fear. We don't have to have any fear. We got. If we got faith, we don't make fear if we got faith. Fear has no power over us. If we got faith, fear is just a pain in the rear. Fear is a pain in the rear for those who have got faith.

It is just something, some nagging, itching issue that needs to be set aside. And if you don't think of it that way, you ought to, It's nasty, it's dirty, it's sorry. It don't do anything for you. It don't help you in any way. It doesn't. It doesn't provide any insight. All it does is tell you that there's danger around, and a lot of times we already know that there's danger around.

So fear doesn't do anything except for tell us that there's danger. Now, it does have that positive aspect to it, but that's it. The rest of it, the rest, everything else that comes from. Not from God. And and Hagar knows that she's in a bad situation, so she don't really need fear. In fact, fear is the opposite of faith and it doesn't help anything.

And faith is the only way that we're ever going to have anything that's of any value. And when God says, Fear not, and he says it all the time, he says it all the time throughout scripture, Just look up fear, not fear. You're not in the scriptures. It's going to reel. Thousands of verses where God literally comes down and tells them to fear.

Not all the time he. He says, Fear not for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is arise, lift up the LA and hold him with your hand for I will make him a great nation. What he's saying is, get up and walk in my promises. Already told you the promises before. Get up and walk in them. That's so hard for some people to get, but I can't say it enough.

I can't say it enough today to you. Get up and walk in the promises of. Quit. Quit walling in your pity party. Get up and walk in the promises of God. And you say I've ruined my life. This is all messed up. I don't have this and I don't have that. Will you please walk in the promises of God? Let God fix those issues.

He's going to fix those issues. Did I tell you that before? He's going to fix those issues. He's got a plan for him. But you know what? He's not gonna reward a lack of faith. He's not gonna look down and. She just ain't gonna act in face, so I'ma just had to do it all. That's not how it works. That's not what's going to happen.

God engages us into the things he's doing. He wants us to be actively a part of what he's doing and the main way we're actively a part of what he's doing is we trust him and we walk in him. And there's, that's the only answer to anything, All right? That's the only answer to anything. So get your butt up.

Did the preacher say Get your butt up? I did. Sometimes I just go back to my, my military days, my football playing days and I was told that to get my butt up a lot growing up. And you know what? It's a good idea. He says Ry, he says, rise, lift up the lad and hold it with your hand for I will make him a great nation.

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. That's another thing right there. That's another thing. Why didn't she sing that well of water that's right there in front of her. You know what? Cause when you're walling in your pity party, you do not see God's provision around you. You do not recognize God's provision around you.

You don't realize all that God has prepared for you, and it's just sitting right there for you to get involved in and engage. You just don't realize it. You just waste it and you sit there and Waller and wine, even though God's already giving you his very best, he's actively involved in giving you his very.

Let's get at it. Let's look let's say, God, what have you provided for me for this situation? What have you provided for me for this moment? What have you given me for this day right here? What are you opening my eyes to right now? There we are. She saw a well of water and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the LA a drink.

Wow. They aren't gonna thirst to death. Wow. All is not lost. Wow. God actually knows what's going on. Wow. He's the guy who sees me. Wonder where that came from. He's the guy who saw you back in the day. He's been watching you the whole time. He's the guy who sees you right now. Wow. Wow. Upside down.

Wow. Upside down. Mom. I don't know why I told you that, but anyway, he said God gave the lad a drink, so God was with the lad. Why? Because he always said he was. He's walking in the promises of God. He's got the anointing of God from his father. He's gonna be a great nation. How do we know that? Cause God said he was.

And he ain't gonna die out there in the wilderness under a tree a bow shot away from his mama because the the well of God and the provision of God's closer than his mama actually was. She gave the lad a drink. So God was with the la. And he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.

Notice he, God is in the middle of it all. He, when God said fear not back in verse 17, he said he heard the voice of the lad where he is. He knows where you're at. He knows the situation you find yourself in. And he provided, he says, and he says he became a great man and he became a great archer.

He became a skilled person. He became a person that had a skill, had a, had something to to make him great in in, in the place where he was. And it says he dwelt in the wilderness of praying, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. Notice he, he's got, And he's not only gonna have a life, he's gonna have a, he's gonna be the father of a great nation and he is gonna be, he's gonna be a great man himself.

And that was always going to be that way. And you go how do we know it was always gonna be that way? Cause God said so. God has promises in his word and those promises don't change just cuz your circumstances or your foolishness has put you in a bad situ. They don't change. He has a plans for you and he knows those plans and their plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope in the future.

And And those plans don't change just because you mess 'em up. You do mess 'em up. And you do sometimes have to deal with the consequences of it. And most of the consequences of it are fear and doubt and worry. And most of the consequences of it have to do with what you are not walking in rather than what you're walking in.

And I'm here to tell you this morning that God is the God of all of his promises. He's the God of yes and amen, and he's the God who showed Har Hagar, who he was a long time ago. He's the God who sees, He's the God who sees where you're at. And he does, and he's going to, and he's always going to. And you ought to know that.

And if you don't know that, I would say to you, consider. This passage is showing us and talk to God about it and let him tell you, Let him confirm it with you. In fact, I tell you all the time, go to the scriptures after I teach and talk to God and let him confirm what I've said. Because if he if he is in it, he'll tell you he's in.

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.