Being the second choice....

Hagar crouched in the bushes by a spring of water in the wilderness. She had fled from her home, from Sarai and Abram, from being loved and then discarded. She had obeyed her mistress and become her replacement to conceive a child. Hagar knew that she was second choice because Sarai could not conceive. Perhaps she loved Abram and was initially glad for Sarai's idea to be with him and carry his child. But as the pregnancy progressed the voice echoed in her brain.....you are just a carrier, you are not important. You are not first choice. Hagar became bitter and Sarai became cruel.

Have you ever felt that way? Perhaps your life has been marked with disappointment and failure. Or you've allowed deception to steal God's best from your life. Have you been thrown into a seemingly random Plan B? Have you felt rejected by those who once embraced you? Used and then discarded? Lost and alone, not sure where to go? Have you run away when a safe place became marked with pain and rejection? Sometimes we are Hagar, hurting and alone, in the wilderness.

But she was not alone - and neither are we! An angel of the Lord FOUND her. He spoke words of courage and life and hope to her. The Lord didn't say that everything would be easy. He told her to return to her place of pain, to live as  the second choice. But He promised that her son would become a nation....because "the Lord has given heed to your affliction".

Hagar declared, "You are a God who sees". The well where she waited was called Beer-lahai-roi which means "seen here after the one who saw me". Friend, GOD SEES YOU. Your life need not be wasted. No matter what your circumstances or what events led to them....how unloved you may feel, betrayed, or rejected or confused. God will meet you as you rest by the spring of life - which to me could mean His powerful WORD.

What do I do when negative feelings try to cause me to just run and hide? I know the best answer is to cling to the Spring of the Water of Life. To drink deep of His words of hope and encouragement. To remember that I am NEVER alone, that my God sees me. He's not surprised by any of this. He knows and understands. He sees my failures and loves me still. He knows me perfectly and yet loves me completely. How awesome is that???

It's a dreary, windy day in Pennsylvania as I sit here in my sunroom - by my spring of water in the wilderness . I'm so thankful for the wonderful memories of this past weekend with family. I'm thankful that GOD SEES ME. Today, I want to live in that knowledge. Even though it's too wonderful for me to grasp, I'm gonna try!!! Will you join me?