Tuesday, April 3, 2012

A Bottle or a Well?


And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. ~Genesis 21:19


Hagar, sent out with just a bottle of water and bread, which was now gone, had lost all hope, given up on life, and was now planning to endure the death of her child. However, God heard her child's cry and revealed a source of provision for them much greater than what she'd had priorly. Before: A bottle (now empty) After: A well. How easy it is to be like Hagar, so focused on a problem that we miss the solution God has already prepared that's right in front of us.
      Sometimes we look through a microscope, when the answer is found through a panoramic view. Microscopic vision is man-made, an "I can figure this out if I try hard enough" mentality. Panoramic vision...this kind of vision is God given. This brings to my mind the feeling I experience inside when I stand on a mountain top overlooking a valley. Thoughts of God's amazingness, His power, and His glory overwhelm me every single time. In like manner, stepping back and allowing these same feelings of awe and this same perspective to take hold spiritually in the middle of life's difficulties will begat peace, which will give place to faith, which will produce the answer to any "impossible" situation one could ever face. Step back, pray, then look again...God might very well open your eyes just as he did Hagar's. An empty bottle or a well? Which will it be?