Cry in the Wilderness

You are the One Who sees me!  You are the One Who hears me!

(The cry of Hagar in the Wilderness)

What a profound theological statement---and coming from a woman, a slave, an "outcast," the least important in the Biblical account of Abraham and Sarah and the slave-girl.

Almost 40 years ago, when my children were babies, I was asked the question, "Who is God to you?"  My answer then was that You were the God of my past, occasionally of the present, but not the God of my future.  At the time, I could look back over my life and see where You had been for me.  Sometimes I was aware of Your Presence in the moment, but then I could not trust You for the future.  I was worried and anxious over what was to come, especially when hearing predictions of famines and earthquakes coming from "seers" like Edgar Cayce.  I worried for the safety and health of my children, for whether we would have enough money, for my own ability to cope.

What I failed to see then was what David said in the face of Goliath:  The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.  In other words, the God of our past is the God of our future also.  He does not change; He remains forever our shield and our very great reward.  I can trust Him for my present need and for my future need.  He is the One Who sees and hears me, and He is the One Who will never forsake or abandon me. 

You have become for me the God of my future, as well as the God of my present.