Is Any Thing Too Hard for the Lord? Genesis 18-23

It has been quite some time since I posted something to go with the weekly Come Follow Me lesson, but I am hoping to get back to making this a regular thing!  I love the Old Testament and some of the amazing stories we read!  Some of it can be so hard to understand, and it is definitely different than any other scripture that we read, but so worth the time when we truly study it.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

I love this question, because the answer is so obvious, yet it's so hard for me to comprehend.  EVERYTHING is too hard for me, and sometimes I forgot to include the Lord so that I don't struggle so much.

But one of the really big messages for me in Genesis 18-23 comes from the story of Hagar.  I think her story is kind of sad.  But at the same time, it really is a story about how the Lord knows each of us and will provide what we need.

Promised Blessings

It's easy for me to read about all the blessings promised to Abraham and his posterity, and the lessons we learn from Abraham are usually centered around those blessings and how they can be available for us, too.

But one thing I have noticed as I read all the stories of Abraham, is that just because he had a lot of faith and trust in the Lord did not mean his life was easy or without conflict.  And it wasn't easy for his family or those around him either.

I can't imagine what life must have been like for Hagar.  She seems to have been thrust into a role she didn't want, and her life was hard.  I'm sure it was hard for Sarah as well, as she watched Hagar have the baby she could never have.

And then to be told she would need to pack her things and her child and leave once Isaac was born had to have been difficult.

Wilderness and Wells

The picture of Hagar putting her son under a bush and leaving to go off and ask the Lord to please not require her to watch her son die is heartbreaking, but then comes the well.

She opens her eyes, and there it is.

Suddenly they have the water they need to sustain them, and it's a miracle.

So here is my question... was the well always there and she just failed to see it, or did it magically appear?

Obviously there is no way to know that for sure, but I think maybe it was always there and her desperate plea opened her eyes so she could see it.

Where is my well?

The reason I think the well was always there is because I think I spend a lot of my time missing the wells that are surrounding me.

My focus is on trying to get out of the wilderness, not looking for the well.  I wander and wander trying to escape, when the Lord has provided a means of escape right in front of me and I am not seeing it. And the escape He has planned for me not be the same escape I am hoping for.

Sometimes God doesn't take us out of the wilderness

Hagar never did leave the wilderness, at least not right away.  The scriptures go on to say that Ishmael was raised in the wilderness and became an archer.  Once they found the well and water they needed, they were able to make a home for themselves there.

Sometimes, the Lord will leave me in the wilderness because that's where I need to be.  To teach me the lessons He needs me to learn, about Him and His ability to provide for me no matter where I am, and the lessons about myself, and how to trust Him even when it feels like I'm wandering.