Gen. 21:17

"And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is" Gen. 21:17

OK. Hagar had made her own bed. Now she was sleeping in it. For years she had been rubbing her fertility in Sarah's face. Ever since Sarah had her child, Hagar had been making life miserable for both, and her son Ishmael had been doing the same. Now they were outcasts from the family they had loved and been loved in. While she probably knew that a righteous judgment had come upon her, she was never the less saddened and heartbroken by her situation. It was bleak. It seemed that death was eminent. They had neither water nor food. Starvation was not the true enemy. Hagar knew without the water, food was useless. She did what any good woman would do, she cried out to God, if there was a God as Abraham had taught her.

Ishmael was crying in the wilderness; Hagar had given up, and God spoke through an angel in the midst of her turmoil asking, "What is the matter with you, Hagar?" I can just hear the voice in Hagar's mind shouting, "Here I am in the desert without water and food. My son is dehydrating, even faster not that he is crying. We are going to die out here and there is not even anyone to give us a proper burial. What do you think is wrong? If you are truly from God, you know full well what is wrong!" But, there is no record that she spoke those obvious words. It appears she remained silent. The angel continued, "Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is."

Have you ever asked a "stupid question"? You know, the one you wished you could take back. We all have, usually in the most embarrassing possible setting. What do you think when it appears that God is asking you a stupid question? Do you respond like my imaginary Hagar conversation? All to often we do. Hagar was probably silent because women were not allowed to speak in public to men. That didn't keep her from thinking. We are freer in our society. Most of us don't think twice when an authority figure approaches us. We are of the nature that we will speak our minds. I went to a meeting the other night where people were supposed to submit questions on paper. In the midst of an explanation, a woman stood up and rebelliously spoke her mind, and not in a very pretty tone of voice either. That is just the way human beings are. If we heard the audible voice of God ask us, "What is the matter?" We would be likely to give God a few choice words before we allowed Him to respond, especially if the problem was as obvious as Hagar's.

But God IS asking us, "What is the matter?" He asks us constantly. Not because He doesn't know, but because He wants us to respond. People have an independent spirit, however, in spite of our independence, or perhaps because of it, we are often in trouble. We say a cross word to the boss. We are in trouble. We pass on a bit of juicy gossip that is flat out false; it gets back to the object of the wagging tongue. We are in trouble. We are late for work and exceed the speed limit through a radar trap. We are in trouble. We say something derogatory in class. We are in trouble. So let's stop the cycle.

When God asks you, "What is the matter?" Will you be honest? Or will you be sharp and nasty? God never asks a question He doesn't want the answer to. What will you say? "I hurt." "I have failed and I feel so bad." "I have made some serious mistakes and my wife hates me." When God asks, be honest. He knows what the problem is. He just wants you to express it in your own words. Then He can resolve the difficulty. Amen and Amen.