He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. Psalm 147:3
I purchased contacts this weekend, and today I keep trying to put my glasses on. And my right eye is not all the way comfortable so I keep blinking awkwardly like I am winking at someone. I promise I’m not. Also, I have taken some kind of motion sickness medicine. It says on the box that it is less drowsy. Well, if that is the case I would not want to find out about the dramamine. Unfortunately, I have been sailing in the ocean with no bodies of water around me or even a boat. I honestly do not know what it means to sail, but I do know that I would never take it up as a hobby. Mainly because sharks, and also whales live in the ocean. And I know. I get it. I watched Free Willy as a kid, but that is just a movie. Ain’t no one foolin me with that one today and telling me how they are nice. Yeah, nice until they eat you. Not today, sharks and whales, not today.
Last night, I was reading in Genesis about Hagar, Abraham, and Sarah. Yeah, nothing to do with oceans. I remember Hagar was one of the first ladies I read about that was a runner. Do you know the Bible is full of them?? Yes, that is right. Well, that is until the Lord grabbed their heart, and the only running they did after that was for him and his glory. Hagar was the one I related to the most in the running area. Not because she had a baby for Abraham or she was treated harshly. No. Because she ran when it was hard. She took off when things were not going the way she wanted them to. That is me if I ever had to show you a picture of my running abilities, I would probably favor Hagar a lot. I know I have been talking about running most of the time it seems, and I think mainly because that is on my mind. More than I want it to be. Even more than I care. I know that I have grown in this area of my life though because it is not the first option or even the second I run to when things are overwhelming.
And can I just say things are pretty overwhelming?
One thing that stood out to me as I was reading this story again was the part where she gets to that well of water and the angel of the Lord finds her. He says, “Hagar, where have you come from and where are you going?” He calls her by name. She’s not just Sarah’s servant here. And she replies, “I’m running away from that crazy lady”. As I’m even writing this something else grabs me. Can you imagine how she felt? I mean, let’s just be real for a minute. She did not have a choice. She didn’t get a say so in this, and even though she got a big head after she knew she was pregnant she didn’t have a choice in the anger Sarah was lashing out at her. After all she was just a handmaid, right? And here we are in the middle of her running, and the Lord sees her. That is what she says “I have seen the one who sees me”. There are some things in my life I did not have a choice in, but we wear different shoes in this category. Yet somehow, I still relate to this lady a lot of years later. Hagar only answered one question that day probably because right then in that moment she did not know her future. But the Lord did. Do you smile? I do. He told her he said, “Hey you’re gonna have a son. Go back and submit to her you are going to have more descendants than you can count.” And this here is where she says “Have I truly seen the one who sees me?”
I want to go back to where I said there were things in my life I did not have a choice in, and back then in my running my answer would probably be different in the where have you come from and where are you going place. Today, however, where I come from is a place of broken things but where I am going is a place of wholeness. Because the One who sees me bandages up the wounded, and makes all things new. He knows where I am going, and I trust in that. I do not have to know the future even though sometimes that seems like a good idea. So, I figure today the only running I’ll do is from spiders. Especially those big ones that probably could chase me down if I did not run fast enough.
Grace upon Grace 