Genesis 16:9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her."
Hagar had been severely mistreated by Sarai. It was too much to take, so she fled. In the midst of running across the desert, she was happened by a spring and stopped for a drink of water to refresh herself. There, the angel of the Lord met her and told her to return to Sarai and to submit to her authority. Your kidding, right. But then, the angel told her what would happen if she would listen to the word of the Lord and return.
Most humans flee trouble and pain. Touch your hand on a hot stove, and we instantly remove it. Why? It is a natural response. We avoid pain or things that tend to bring it on. Like Hagar, we have a limit, and when reached, any perceived benefits of the situation become void, and we leave. But, when God meets Hagar and says that the benefits of staying out number the hardship she would need to endure she obeyed.
A and K, it is difficult to endure hardships. That's why they are called hardships. Sometimes, it is right to flee, but when you know you are where God has placed you, endure the suffering. Each of you has to some degree experienced this and until you die, troubles will continue (John 16:33). Paul told timothy to stick it out (2 Timothy 2:3) and that is what you are to do. The benefits of enduring God's assignment far outweighs any place you may want to be in life. Being a slave to God trumps the freedom of where you want to be in the world no matter how tough it is at the time. Fight onward as soldiers of Christ and endure the battle for the victory is His. I'm not kidding.
~Dad
Song
Onward Christian Soldiers
Most humans flee trouble and pain. Touch your hand on a hot stove, and we instantly remove it. Why? It is a natural response. We avoid pain or things that tend to bring it on. Like Hagar, we have a limit, and when reached, any perceived benefits of the situation become void, and we leave. But, when God meets Hagar and says that the benefits of staying out number the hardship she would need to endure she obeyed.
A and K, it is difficult to endure hardships. That's why they are called hardships. Sometimes, it is right to flee, but when you know you are where God has placed you, endure the suffering. Each of you has to some degree experienced this and until you die, troubles will continue (John 16:33). Paul told timothy to stick it out (2 Timothy 2:3) and that is what you are to do. The benefits of enduring God's assignment far outweighs any place you may want to be in life. Being a slave to God trumps the freedom of where you want to be in the world no matter how tough it is at the time. Fight onward as soldiers of Christ and endure the battle for the victory is His. I'm not kidding.
~Dad
Song
Onward Christian Soldiers
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