Someone is Watching YOU!

This morning I enjoyed sitting in my favorite chair with a cup of steaming hot coffee reading the story of Hagar (Abram's wife's servant) and Sarai (Abram's wife).  Not that it is that exciting of a story or that I enjoyed the unfolding of the story because it is really a sad story in several ways.  Sarai was aging and knew that Abram wanted a child (a son, to be more specific).  For some reason unknown to Sarai, she has never been able to conceive so she insists that he take Hagar as a wife and try to have a child with her.  

He agrees (his first mistake) and she conceives and is quite "proud" of this seeming to flaunt it to Sarai (Hagar's first mistake). Sarai then blames Abram - even though this was her brain child to start with - and treats Hagar so badly that she flees into the desert to get away. 

Now, here is what I love about this story.  God comforts this woman in the desert by a spring because he sees her there and sends an angel to interact with her. 

What is so special about this whole thing?  

The way that the character of God is revealed in this story is what makes it special to me!

When the angel speaks to Hagar and she responds with saying, "You are the God who sees me".  In the English translation (NIV), we have added the "me" for clarification and the name that she speaks toward God is really "El Roi" - "The God who SEES". (Genesis 16:13)

Isn't that great!  HE SEES!

In my darkest hour - He sees!
In my finest hour - He sees!
In pain or pleasure - He sees!
In joy or sorrow - He sees!

Psalm 139 says that:  

when I sit or stand,
when I come in or leave,
when I try to hide or escape Him,
when I run away or to Him

He sees!

Every time I am reminded of this Name of God - it brings me comfort and confidence that whenever I feel alone, discouraged or defeated I can KNOW without a shadow of a doubt in my heart that my God sees me in whatever condition I find myself and He has already sent the exact thing that I need to bring me back to a place of worshipping in His presence.  I love it when that card, person, or email shows up at just the perfect time to remind me that God SEES!

The end of the story... the angel of God pronounces a great promise to Hagar and commands her to return to Sarai and submit to her.  Hagar obeys, praises God and is blessed with a child named Ishmael meaning "God Hears". (another blog for another day? maybe so)

Know this - God sees where yo are in this stage of life and wants you to willingly continue to worship Him and follow His word with the faith that He has already set things in motion to bring you encouragement!

It's Crazy How God Works!

I shared last how I committed to praying for the car in front of me when I was tempted to yell at them for driving too slow, right?  Well, last week was pretty amazing in this way.
Eight times last week I found myself behind drivers that were just plodding along at speeds well BELOW the speed limits.  However, I was reminded every time to pray for them and so I did.

• I prayed that God would touch their lives.
• I prayed that they would encounter and experience the love of God this day.
• I prayed that their hearts would be open to hear from God,
• and I prayed that they would be blessed by God in some way.

Then I thought about God - The first thing that I thought about (I must confess) was how infinite He was and I think that was prompted by how long I was feeling like it was going to take us to get our destination!
Here is the absolutely amazing praise that I offer up to My God in this post today...

Last week I spent eight times in worship of my God that I would have normally spent in sin by verbally berating other drivers.  God spoke to my heart and prompted me to practice what I have been preaching and to find one more way to live in His presence in another moment of my day.

 

I do not share this to boast about me or my accomplishments but to give praise and honor to My God for helping me address a very specific area of sin that I was ignoring and to replace it with a few more moments in His presence during my day.  What I have found to be incredible is that when I allow myself to be aware of the Spirit in my life, I actually open myself up to correcting sin and improving worship at the same time.

It is Philippians 4:8 in practice!  Praise be to God for His Holy Spirit being freed up to act in another area of my life - let Him do the same in your life today!  Pray for other drivers and see how that causes you to focus upon Him rather than freely feed our sinful nature! 

Symbols mean something!

In last week’s message, my challenge was to find (or create and adopt) a symbol or reminder that would jog your memory to “Think 3” things about God. 

In the same message, I confessed that I often get frustrated at the drivers that never seem to understand my urgency in getting someplace and that they always seem to be in front of me!

Well, I realized on Monday morning that I needed to practice what I preach.  First thing… I was taking my daughter to school and we were behind someone that was just creeping along.  Now it was icy and they were simply being safe while I wanted to keep moving.  So, it dawned on me that I could work at correcting a poor behavior of my own while praising God!

So, I adopted a symbol and reminder to “Think 3”.  

Now (and it has already happened several times this week) whenever someone is in front of me or pulls out in front of me and my sinful nature wants to dominate – I start first by praying for God’s blessing upon them and thanking God for the chance to reflect my thoughts upon Him.  Then, I think about what 3 important concepts of God do I need to remember and give Him praise.

It is strange how quickly that has changed my tension level in driving!  It is also somewhat humorous to me how many times this week I have had this opportunity. 

Choose a symbol - impress it in your mind and even share it with someone that may hold you accountable!