Thirsty

DEVOTION

THIRSTY

GENESIS

Gen 21:14-21

14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob. 17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation." 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

NIV

It is a bit puzzling Ishmael is referred to as “the boy” when he was seventeen years of age and by Jewish accounts, he would be a man. It is also interesting the amount of provisions Abraham gave to Hagar and Ishmael to travel away from his encampment. He certainly obeyed the Lord thus listening to the complaint of Sarah and responding by sending them away. But how far did he except them to get on such small amount of provisions? There was not pack animal full, but only what Hagar could carry on her shoulders. Why didn’t Ishmael carry the provisions, being a strapping youth of seventeen? Why let his mother carry it? It would seem this is the custom of those days as the women did not have much identity of their own, and were in some sense servants to the men. So perhaps it would have been natural for Hagar to accept the burden. Yet why so little of provisions? Perhaps Abraham was hoping Ishmael would not travel too far from the encampment and he would be able to keep some form of contact with him, after all he was his son. We also have to note that further on in the narrative of Abraham’s life, when he does die, both Isaac and Ishmael bury him. So although Abraham sent them away, we might think his intent was for them not to go far away and it would seem they did not go that far away. But they did travel, perhaps, in a little off the intended path ending up in the desert without water. Here is our lesson. As they sat thirsty having run out of the provisions provided by Abraham, they sat despondent, crying and sobbing. Thirst alone may not have been the reason for this response of tears.  Maybe they were so depressed because of their circumstances. They had it made in the encampment of Abraham. Maybe Ishmael is crying because he knew he made a mistake mocking Isaac and it cost him, but perhaps more importantly his mother's comfort. Hagar was sobbing out of love for her son, not wanting harm to come to him. A mother’s love cannot be defined by words and this might well have been one example of the love. It does not appear she was upset with Ishmael for bringing this situation about. She was merely concerned for her son. We are not told any other attitude of Hagar. Yet amidst the situation, God intervenes. He hears the cries of his people. Ishmael was a son of Abraham whom God had promised he would bless. We have to assume God was watching over Hagar and Ishmael as they traveled rather than just going on being the God of Abraham Isaac, and eventually Jacob.  He heard their plea, and he sent an angel to reassure them and open her eyes so she could see a well. Did God miraculously provide a well where there was none? Perhaps the well was always there and he just sharpened her senses so she would be able to see it. In her despondency she may not have been as sharp eyed as she would have normally been. Either way, God provided a way when there appeared in the flesh there was no way. Both Hagar and Ishmael were not thinking about how God would rescue them, they were resigned to live or die on their own efforts, but God wanted them to know he was with them, he would provide for them. This too is how he is with us. We cannot allow the situations in life to bring about despondency or depression just looking at how we are going to live on our own efforts. God is with us, he will provide a way when there is no other way. This is what faith is all about. God encourages our faith every day, if we but look to him and not to ourselves. When we focus on us, we could get down, and feel alone. But when we focus on God, we know he is taking us by the hand and showing us the well. Jesus said:

John 4:13-14

13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

NIV

John 6:35

35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty .

NIV

There is just no reason to ever be thirsty.