The weekend before last, I was in O'Fallon, Illinois, visiting my best friend. Her college graduation was that Saturday, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world! She took us to nearby St. Louis, too, and we had a ball at the Arch and in the City Museum. All in all, it was too short a weekend, and I already miss her dearly.
Before we left for home, we attended service at her church on Mother's Day. I expected the typical sermon one normally hears on Mother's Day, and yes, the pastor spoke about mothers. But what I did not expect was that the Lord would speak to me directly through that sermon.
My son is leaving home in four weeks to live in Virginia; and I've been going through a difficult time questioning some things about how I've done my job as a mother, especially during the crisis times of my son's life. I shared my heart with only a couple of people, and even they didn't know the full burden I was bearing. But the Lord knew.
During the sermon, the pastor made a comment that pierced the secret place of my heart. I looked up at him with tears burning my eyes. Internally, I asked, "Lord, is that for me? Can I believe that?"
About ten or fifteen minutes later, the pastor made the comment again. He hesitated, then said, "I don't know why I'm saying this again, but it's on my heart." The tears fell from my eyes this time. The Lord must be speaking to me. It must be for me.
Towards the end of the sermon, the pastor made the comment yet again, saying, "This must be for someone here, as I keep feeling the need to say it." I knew then for sure that it was for me.
I drove 840 miles from home, attended a church I had never been to before, and there I received a word of comfort and encouragement for something that most people didn't even know I was going through. The Lord knew right where I was going to be, and He was waiting for me.
In Genesis 16, we read about Hagar becoming pregnant with Abram's child. (His name had not yet been changed to Abraham.) She became haughty and began to flaunt her new status of wife and soon-to-be-mother in Sarai's face. After discussing it with her husband, Sarai began to remind Hagar of her continued status as her servant. Hagar no longer viewed herself as Sarai's servant; afterall, she had been given to the master of the house as a wife and was carrying his child. So she felt that Sarai's treatment of her as just a handmaid was now unbearable, and she fled from the household.
While resting at the well which was on the road to Egypt, her home land, Hagar was visited by an angel of the Lord. He asked her from whence she came and where she was going. Not that he didn't know the answer. He wanted Hagar to consider well her actions, hoping she would reconsider her decision and return to Sarai on her own. When she continued to justify her actions, the angel gave the word of the Lord to her -- to return to Sarai and submit to her as her servant, and to name the son that she would bear, Ishmael. He also gave her the promises concerning her son.
Hagar did not ask the Lord for help (at least, not on this trip away from Sarai). She didn't ask for a word from Him either. She was miles from home, alone, and in a place on the edge of a barren wilderness. No one even knew where she was. But God did. And He knew she needed a word of encouragement and direction for her life. He was waiting for her at that well. And when she arrived, his angel manifested himself to her with the word of the Lord.
When I read that passage this week, I was reminded of my visit to Illinois. I didn't ask the Lord to speak to me either, but He knew I needed a word of encouragement, too. Just like He knew where Hagar was, all those miles from home, He knew where I was; and He was waiting for me, too. He truly is no respecter of persons.
So be encouraged this week. No matter what you're going through. No matter where you are. Even if you don't know how to ask God for help, just remember that He knows exactly where you are and where you'll be. And He'll be waiting for you....with exactly what you need.
Before we left for home, we attended service at her church on Mother's Day. I expected the typical sermon one normally hears on Mother's Day, and yes, the pastor spoke about mothers. But what I did not expect was that the Lord would speak to me directly through that sermon.
My son is leaving home in four weeks to live in Virginia; and I've been going through a difficult time questioning some things about how I've done my job as a mother, especially during the crisis times of my son's life. I shared my heart with only a couple of people, and even they didn't know the full burden I was bearing. But the Lord knew.
During the sermon, the pastor made a comment that pierced the secret place of my heart. I looked up at him with tears burning my eyes. Internally, I asked, "Lord, is that for me? Can I believe that?"
About ten or fifteen minutes later, the pastor made the comment again. He hesitated, then said, "I don't know why I'm saying this again, but it's on my heart." The tears fell from my eyes this time. The Lord must be speaking to me. It must be for me.
Towards the end of the sermon, the pastor made the comment yet again, saying, "This must be for someone here, as I keep feeling the need to say it." I knew then for sure that it was for me.
I drove 840 miles from home, attended a church I had never been to before, and there I received a word of comfort and encouragement for something that most people didn't even know I was going through. The Lord knew right where I was going to be, and He was waiting for me.
In Genesis 16, we read about Hagar becoming pregnant with Abram's child. (His name had not yet been changed to Abraham.) She became haughty and began to flaunt her new status of wife and soon-to-be-mother in Sarai's face. After discussing it with her husband, Sarai began to remind Hagar of her continued status as her servant. Hagar no longer viewed herself as Sarai's servant; afterall, she had been given to the master of the house as a wife and was carrying his child. So she felt that Sarai's treatment of her as just a handmaid was now unbearable, and she fled from the household.
While resting at the well which was on the road to Egypt, her home land, Hagar was visited by an angel of the Lord. He asked her from whence she came and where she was going. Not that he didn't know the answer. He wanted Hagar to consider well her actions, hoping she would reconsider her decision and return to Sarai on her own. When she continued to justify her actions, the angel gave the word of the Lord to her -- to return to Sarai and submit to her as her servant, and to name the son that she would bear, Ishmael. He also gave her the promises concerning her son.
Hagar did not ask the Lord for help (at least, not on this trip away from Sarai). She didn't ask for a word from Him either. She was miles from home, alone, and in a place on the edge of a barren wilderness. No one even knew where she was. But God did. And He knew she needed a word of encouragement and direction for her life. He was waiting for her at that well. And when she arrived, his angel manifested himself to her with the word of the Lord.
When I read that passage this week, I was reminded of my visit to Illinois. I didn't ask the Lord to speak to me either, but He knew I needed a word of encouragement, too. Just like He knew where Hagar was, all those miles from home, He knew where I was; and He was waiting for me, too. He truly is no respecter of persons.
So be encouraged this week. No matter what you're going through. No matter where you are. Even if you don't know how to ask God for help, just remember that He knows exactly where you are and where you'll be. And He'll be waiting for you....with exactly what you need.
