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Oilfield Workers Sharing Christ Around the World

QUESTIONS GOD ASKS – WEEK 3 – WHERE HAVE YOU COME FROM AND WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

Photo by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash

By Mike Chaffin

He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” Genesis 16:8

          Circumstances surround our every action. Do we let them define us? In many cases we do. But should they?

          The backstory of our key verse is Sarai, who was told by God she would have a child, hadn’t yet, and got tired of waiting. So, she gave Hagar to Abram to bear a child. When Hagar found she was pregnant she looked at Sarai with contempt and Sarai, with hurt feelings, dealt harshly with her. Hagar decided it was time to leave and fled into the desert. Sitting there, probably pondering her future, or imminent death in the desert, was asked by God, “Where have you come from and where are you going?”

        That is a question God could ask anyone. Especially those who feel overwhelmed by circumstances, either past, present or the perceived future. Does something in your past dictate how you live today? Do your current circumstances cause you grief, despair or wonder where God is? Are you about to make a decision that will affect your future, and you haven’t gone to God with it? Where have you come from and where are you going?

        All throughout the Bible God shows us how not to allow circumstances dictate our actions. After the promised land was won and Joshua stepped down as their army General, he called all the tribal leaders to him. He reminded them where they had come from and where they had arrived and what their future would be if they didn’t serve God. He told them,

                   14 “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15

        They had come from a condition of slavery, through wandering in desolation, into war to claim the promise. They had served God, and they were successfully planted. Joshua knew that as their life became easier, they would be tempted to stray from God. In the previous chapter he warned them what their future held if they departed from serving God. Then he challenged them to do as he would do, to serve God until his dying breath.

       Daniel showed us even in captivity we can live for God and serve Him even at the risk of death. What we must realize, as Paul put it so plainly, to live is Christ and to die is gain. We win either way if we stay a faithful servant. Live each day with laser focus on God and the circumstances you are in don’t seem so daunting. Daniel rose to great heights even as different kings who thought they were gods reigned.

       Jesus told us not to worry about the future for today has enough of those.

              Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

       Circumstances can define us. They can make us stronger, drive us to succeed, or cripple and imprison. Jesus came to save. He came to forgive sins and wipe away the pain and regret of past failures. Come to Him. He stands at the door and knocks. If your door is a jail cell you have locked yourself into because of sins or circumstances, you alone hold the key to open that door and let Jesus in. Be free today.

Contemplation: What circumstances of my past or current behavior are keeping me from a life of freedom in Christ? Pray for forgiveness, pray for healing or deliverance, pray for joy.

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