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 [d] 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.
-Genesis 21:15-21
Again, Hagar is off by herself. Poor Hagar... she's someone I certainly don't envy. She's banished by Sarah to the desert along with Ishmael, because Ishmael was making fun of something, as kids often do. (Seems quite childish of Sarah if you ask me.) But, again God proved Himself to be "the God who sees her." He saw her and provided water for them, and was with the boy as he grew up. We cry and worry, and sometimes we forget that God has always been here for us... that we have no reason to worry. It is all in God's hands. Yes, sometimes things hurt and cause us to cry. Yes, sometimes things are difficult and cause us stress... but as Christians, we have the overriding assurance that
God is good
All the time.
All the time
God is good.
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.-Matthew 6:25-34
This beautiful verse on worry is a part of the Bible that I need to read more often than I do. In fact, I think I might need to pint it out and just read it each morning. I think my difficulty in dealing with worry and anxiety may hail from my overconsciousness and slight perfectionism (with certain things). I want to do everything as best as I can, especially when it involves others, which it usually does. And I want to live my life as well as I can- with intentionality in the way I live each day, in the money I allocate to certain things, the time I devout to certain goals, everything. And that makes me somewhat overly-critical and worried about how I'm doing... measuring up only to my own self-determined criteria, but that is often the harshest.
I believe there's a fine line between living intentionally- trying to make an effort to live lightly on the earth (eat locally, recycle, reuse), serving others and God- and not worrying too much about it. We make an effort and give ourselves to the Lord, knowing that He will use us if we give our hearts to Him. And it will never be enough to earn our way into Heaven... that is a gift from our Lord... along with the assurance that can ease our minds and our hearts... if we only let Him free us from worry.
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