RE: The Hurting
06/08/2023 - Zeke Murley
Why do bad things happen to good people?
“The genius of Christianity is that religion by itself makes you as bad as everybody else. In fact religion can make it worse, because it can make you a Pharisee, but the doctrine of the grace of God says that you’re saved by sheer grace. That humbles you but affirms you at the same time. You’re so bad that Jesus had to die for you, but so loved that Jesus was willing to die for you”. -Timothy Keller
Sarai and Hagar
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Gen 16:1-2 ESV
Sarai: Women of rank, power, representative of the King.
Hagar: To flee.
“If God would concede me His power for 24 hours, you would see how many changes I would make in the world. But if He gave me His wisdom too, I would leave things as they are.”
― J.M.L. Monsabre (Pastor from Paris, 1850’s)
Whether you are a Hagar, Sarai or anything in between, God wants to reveal himself to you again today.
3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.
4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
Gen 16:3-6 ESV
- What do you do when God’s promise doesn’t seem to come through?
- What promises are you waiting on?
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
Gen 16: 7-13 ESV
- Where have you come from?
- Where are you going?
1
Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
2
Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?”
3
Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.
4
But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
5
They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.
6
They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell.
7
They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8
Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
Psalm 115: 1-8