He is closer that you might think

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Nowadays people live a lot differently than before. They’ve got accustomed to the convenience, holidays, and fun. For some period they may feel as though nothing jeopardizes them. But sometimes they get shocked by a tragedy in the family, doctors find an incurable disease, or they find themselves in an unsolvable financial situation. Only then they realize how vulnerable and powerless they are. Truly, not everything can be solved by head.

How the people lived and dealt with such“on the edge”situations thousands of years ago? Let’s look into the Old Testament on Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, if they were able to rely only on God, even if everything else failed. Sarah, out of jealousy and a possible division of their inheritance, got angered on Hagar and wanted to expel her into the desert. Abraham didn’t agree with it because Hagar’s son Ishmael, the grand grandfather of all Arabs, was still his son after all (see Genesis 1:21). But after prayer, God assured him that it's in His will as well and he can listen to Sarah. And so Abraham gives Hagar a blessing and farewells to her. He gives her only bread and water for the journey! How would Hagar probably feel like? Can we even imagine? Although she was accustomed to the fact, that she was only Sarah’s maid, but her home, safety and financial security was with Abraham. At those times there was no social security and no infrastructure was built, her situation must have been objectively desperate. Hagar held herself heroically at the beginning. The problem arose only when she ran out of water. So it is often with us. Everything is going very smoothly, as long as we have basic resources - money in the account, a stable job, and close friends. But it’s nothing special, if we run out of that natural source from time to time. Even Elijah was left without water when creek dried up. What to do then? In such moments we should recall on God’s promises. God spoke to Hagar also, that He’ll multiply her descendants in such a way, that it would be impossible to count them (Genesis 16:10). There are numerous promises in the Bible and these are written for us! "This promise is to you, and your children, and even to the Gentiles - all who have been called by the Lord our God" (Acts 2:39, NLT). Let's stand on the Word of God, as did the apostle Peter when he walked on the water. Jesus' word held him firmly on the water. Even today, Jesus' words have power to take everyone through all difficult situations and adverse circumstances. But we should not imitate Hagar, who, in the words of our time, fell into a deep depression. She stopped fighting, stopped finding a solution, she completely resigned and didn’t seek help from God, although she knew about the promise of God directly for her son from the angel. She sat down, moaned and since she didn’t want to see her child dying, she rather got far from him and not see him. What a horror! It already seemed that it all would end up badly, and yet it had a happy end. But God heard the boy’s cry (Genesis 21:17)! Let's face it, God didn’t hear Hagar - her loud lament full of doubt, distrust, but heard her crying child and His child.

This story is also the story of God's grace. God saved Hagar not because of her deeds, but because He is God, who fulfils promises, full of grace and mercy. What a big surprise it had to be for Hagar, when she found out that well filled with fresh water was just almost next to her. In her desperation, she was unable to see God's answer. And yet the well was there   prepared before she started crying. Negative, depressive attitude causes, that we can’t see ahead. What a joy we would have caused to our God, if we’ve just seek help by Him. Unlike natural resources, His resources are inexhaustible and readily available. He is the source of your love, wisdom and blessing. Turn therefore always to Him and don’t rely on your own understanding. Then God will also open our eyes and we’ll see a "spring", which we couldn’t see before. He is closer than you think!

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