Made New

Made New

There are days where the idea of being seen is all too much.

There are days when I’m running quickly into the grocery store in my favorite sweats and hat (to cover the bed hair I never had a chance to tame) and smelling all kinds of fresh. On such days, being unseen is A-OK by me.

Coming home from a long day of work, kicking off my shoes and changing straight into my comfy pants is another opportunity to love the art of being unseen.

Even still, there’s not a day that passes where we don’t want our hearts to be seen, loved, understood, defended and protected.

Human nature has us chasing the hustle when instead we should be pursuing the Holy One.  

Sarah, Abraham’s wife hustled. Yep. It’s true.

To HUSTLE means to push or force one’s way.

When she had a sense that the promises of God weren’t coming to fruition in the ways she expected, anticipated, or wanted, she took it upon herself to strategically plan a way to ‘bring the promise to pass’ no matter the cost.

The general problem with ‘no matter the cost’ statements is that there’s always a cost. If not counted, weighed, measured and understood, the cost can blindside us with its consequences. 

Enter the story of Hagar and Ishmael.

Who is Hagar?

I have to admit for the majority of my early days as a  Christian I didn’t understand the story or significance of Hagar. I knew her as the mother of Ishmael, a boy forever pitted against Isaac, the heir of Abraham and Sarah.

The more I learned of Hagar however, the more I identified with parts of her story.

Unseen, for the majority of her life, she was positioned in a destiny bigger than her own. She didn’t ask to be included in Sarah’s side-hustle. She was a maid, a servant – not a co-conspirator.

Yet somehow she was dragged into the most significant upset that the world had ever seen (up to that point in history anyway), and the ‘promises of God’ were overthrown with the impatience of Sarah.

You see, when we take matters into our own hands, trying to push and force the will of God, we end up delivering something that was never intended for us.

God will still work all things together for the ‘greater’ good, but His best should never become second best to our own agendas.

Can I get an amen!?

The Lover of humanity was moved with compassion for Hagar. Abandoned to the desert with her now disowned son and left to die, God appeared to her. In His kindness toward her and Ishmael, she gave God a name that has shaped so much of my own story. She called Him El Roi, the God who sees.

There’s another beautiful layer to this tapestry of God’s love for Hagar. The name of her son Ishmael means “God listens.”

Her story and that of her son is now forever written into history, not as a servant girl who bore an illegitimate son, but as the God who sees and listens.

Doesn’t that just speak to the very core of the love of our Father for hurting humanity?

He hears all, sees all, and determines to work all things together for the greater good.

Hagar’s story of betrayal, rejection, isolation, desertion, and neglect is redeemed and turned into a story of being seen, known, loved and heard.

Hers is a story not unlike our own. And perhaps yours too?

There is never a moment that the God of the universe doesn’t see you.

And from that place of ‘seeing Him, seeing us’ just as Hagar experienced, we can draw strength for the desert seasons.

God created Hagar ‘anew’ in the desert. He set her on a new life-path where she now knew the God of Abraham as her own. Jehovah came near, and she lived to tell the tale, it says in some translations.

Often we go through moments with our own Jehovah that change everything; we find ourselves set on a new life-path, refreshed and renewed for the days ahead. 

What areas of your life need a fresh encounter with God? What desert places in your heart and life, need to be found by ‘ The Well of the living One who sees’? What are you running from? What is God asking you to return to? How is He inviting you to do what is right?

He is the God who sees and listens. He hears your cries and loves you through every circumstance.

Wherever you are in the wilderness, you are never too far from home. You can return to Him and be renewed. God is always ready and willing to breathe new life into our souls and fresh breath to the purpose He has designed for us.

Don’t let the situations around you talk you out of your destiny!

Rest, refresh, and return to the place He has called you to.

He sees you.

He hears you.

There is a way through the wilderness. God is with you in it, and will be with you on the other side. Though the temptation to give up will come, know that He is with you.

He sees.

He is with us.

He rebuilds us.

He is ONE with us, which means that we can brave the wilderness.

Janelle KnoxLover of Jesus, wife, mom and founder of MICI Magazine; a Christian women’s magazine determined to let the world know, we are ‘Made In Christ’s Image’, indeed, ‘it’s in Christ, we find out who we are and what we’re living for.’  Ephesians 4:11-12

 

Thank you for reading along on the Revelation Wellness Blog this week!  This month, we are learning what it means to #bravethewilderness in God’s presence and love. Feel free to drop us a note about your wilderness story, at testify@revelationwellness.org. Your testimony brings God glory!

Have you heard of the “Heir to the Crown” Challenge? This is a pick- your- own- price, faith and fitness challenge. We are calling ALL the women of God to grab their crowns, pick up their swords, and get back what the world has stolen; our identity as priceless, unrivaled, royal daughters of God. To learn more and join the challenge visit the Heir to the Crown page.

Workout with us in this THROWBACK #wednesdayworkout! For more great workouts, become a partner with us and receive RevWellTV!

KRISTEN ULIN’S OLYMPIC LIFT- “GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES”

Equipment needed: dumbbells and a posture of joy!

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2 Responses

  1. Its 2:30am est and reading this blog was the sweet invitation i needed back into my fathers arms and heart. I know he never let me go but because of “life” i moved out of. Position as a daughter of God. Feeling nothing for months feeling closeness to nothing. Knowing i was meant for more but my posture had become weak and univiting. I had no stregnth to invite the Holy spirit to help me. Consumed by so much. I purposed in my heart that this week had to be different and this blog allowed me to enter back into my place in the heart of God. He loves me and i almost settled for the lie of being unseen or not cared for by God. I see him & he sees me. That is really the best news i have received in a long time. Thank you

    1. Thank you so much for sharing, Phyllis! You are a beautiful daughter of the King. The Lord hears you and sees you. He is making all things new!

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