A few weeks ago I was in church, sitting with my parents, and my mom’s friend reached over and handed me a devotion book. I handed it to my mom thinking that it was for her. As it turns out, she was handing it to me. It’s a very small book with a one-page devotion per day. There’s a verse to go along with a story and then a section that is called “Deeper Walk” that gives a few more scriptures to read that go along with the story.
Today I read the “Deeper Walk” part from Genesis 16. I was familiar with the story of Sarah giving her maidservant, Hagar, to her husband in order to have a child. Sarah knew that she had been trying and trying to have a baby, but she had been unsuccessful and was an old woman at this point (in her 80s). Sarah had not waited on God. She wanted to create her own miracle. And, y’all, I don’t know about you, but I would not be so excited to raise my husband’s baby that he’d had with another woman. A woman that I had presented to him. A baby that was supposed to be MY son. I’m pretty sure that the second I found out she was pregnant, I would have instantly regretted everything I’d done.
This is one of the reasons I love the Bible. Even though this story is way before our time it is still applicable. And this devotional helped me to see that. I underlined a few sentences that really struck me: “Hold on tightly to the words of His promise. But be ever so aware that miracles aren’t ours to manufacture; they’re His to handcraft for our story. God is good at His job. Press into Jesus while you wait and save yourself the struggles of trying to manufacture your miracles. I promise they’re so much sweeter when He crafts them!”
Sometimes we have to wait on God. Sometimes we wait for a few days, a few hours, even a few minutes. That wait time can be tough, but it isn’t so bad. Because the reality is that sometimes we have to wait months or even years. But in verse 13 Hagar called God “The God who sees me”.
He sees you.
He sees you when you’re waiting for biopsy results. He sees you when you’re waiting on a significant other to come into your life. He sees you when you’re waiting on that dream job. He sees you when you’re waiting to get pregnant. He sees you when you’re waiting for a way out of an addiction. He sees you when you’re waiting for college acceptance letters. He sees you when you’re healing after an injury.
He sees you.
My favorite part of the quote from the devotion is, “God is good at His job.” He knows what He’s doing, and He sees you. You aren’t forgotten.
Sarah was a woman in her 80s still waiting for God to give her the child He promised her. I imagine that any 80 year old would be thinking, “Um, God? Did you forget about me? I’m right here. I’m pretty far past my child-bearing prime, so….yeah…I’m right here.”
And that had to be what she thought because she gave her maidservant to her husband so they could have a child.
Have mercy! That’s irrational thinking and trying to handcraft your own miracle if I’ve ever seen it!
God is good at His job. He sees you. He knows your needs before you even speak them. He wants to help you because He loves you.
He’s good at His job.
So stop helping Him out.
Even though it’s hard to wait. Man is it hard to wait. But it’s the best thing. I’ve taken so many things into my own hands trying to make it better and help God out, and if I had just minded my own business and believed in Him and trusted that He’s good at his job and knows what He’s doing, I’d have been better off.
What you can do is pray. Prayer is so powerful. Tell God what you need, what you desire. He knows already, but He wants to hear from us. Talk to Him but don’t forget to listen. Sometimes I pray and talk and talk and talk and tell God what I’m thinking and what I’d like to happen in a certain situation. If you’re like me you’ve done this too. But when we’ve finally finished talking, we need to listen. Very often God will talk back.
I’ve never heard an audible voice, but I have had thoughts that were so peaceful and clear that I just knew in my soul that it was God. It’s in those moments of listening that we can hear answers. We can hear in the quiet, in the music, and in His word. I hear from God the most those three ways. He’s good at His job, remember? He knows what He’s doing when a certain song starts playing on your Pandora or when you open your Bible to read. He loves you so much that He’ll orchestrate the perfect scripture reading or worship song at the exact moment you needed to hear it. So don’t forget to listen.
He sees you. He’s good at his job.
Have a glorious day, friends.
