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Read Genesis 21:8-21. The story of Hagar and her son, Ishmael, reads like a soap opera. She first shows up in chapter 16 as a servant of Sarai, who has realized she will not bear children. Sarai gives Hagar to Abram as a wife so that he can have offspring. Abram doesn’t want to do it, but the Lord convinces him to listen to Sarai. When Hagar finds herself pregnant, she begins to resent Sarai, who then blames Abram. Hagar tries to run away, but an angel shows up and tells her to return and submit to Sarai. The angel promises that the child she is carrying will be a ‘wild ass of a man’ and will find himself at odds with just about everyone, family included. She returns to Sarai’s service.

And then we get to chapter 21. Sarah, formerly Sarai, now bears a son and becomes jealous of Hagar and Ishmael, worried that they might steal her own son’s inheritance. She forces Abraham, formerly Abram, to send them off to starve in the desert. Hagar cries out in desperation as her son slowly dies, but the Lord hears her cries and saves them both. At every turn, Hagar does what is required of her, only to be treated with contempt and to be treated as if she were disposable. It all seems very unfair. And yet, every time she is about to give up hope, the Lord appears.

When you are going through difficulties that are no fault of your own, how do you respond? Does it feel like it’s enough to know that God is with you, even if nothing else changes? When you are feeling or have felt hopeless, what “well of water” has revived your faith in better days ahead?

Today, offer what seems like a hopeless situation to God and ask for the assurance of God’s presence and care.

Read Psalm 86. The verse that stands out for me upon this reading is verse 11. “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.” This psalm has it all: complaint, a plea for help, praise, and thanksgiving. “Teach me your way,” is not my natural response to difficulties in life. I tend to sound more like vs. 17. “Show me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame.”

How might we approach a difficult circumstance or difficult person if we focused on what we could learn from it/them? How would it allow us to recognize the movement of God and give us an undivided heart towards God’s way of being in the world? Think of someone who has harmed you or harmed someone you love. What have you learned from them? How might this learning affect the way you think, speak, or act?

Offer a prayer of thanksgiving for all the ways God is redeeming difficult moments in life and helping you to grow more fully into God’s image: “merciful, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (vs. 15)”.

Read Romans 6:1b-11. There are those who believe that the grace offered in Jesus Christ allows them to act any old way they want to. Their confession of faith has no impact on the way they live or treat others. Paul insists in this reading that this should not be the case. “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound,” he asks. “By no means!”

Instead, because we have been given new life through Christ, we should set aside our old, destructive ways. Dying to our old selves and being raised in the life of Christ means we are no longer the same people we were. We are better than that because God has made us so. We are not called to be perfect, but we are called to strive to put our sins behind us.

What aspects of your old self do you struggle to let go? What marks of the Christian life do you see in yourself? Have you ever felt like the grace offered through Jesus gives you permission to act or speak poorly? To what degree do you believe that God can meet you and love you where you are, but still compel you to live a life worthy of your calling as a disciple of Jesus?

Today in prayer, ask for forgiveness of your sins and for the strength, the courage, and the desire to do better.

Read Matthew 10:24-39. Well, at least Jesus’ disciples couldn’t say Jesus hadn’t warned them that sharing the gospel would be dangerous and hard. What angered those in power the most about Jesus’ teaching was the fact that he uncovered what those in power had been able to keep under the cover of legalism and accepted social structures. When Jesus had the courage to say that the good religious folks were like white-washed tombs, bright and shiny on the outside, but full of death on the inside, those good religious folks did their very best to snuff him out.

Jesus knew that those who take the lid off and reveal the ways the kingdoms of this world stand in contrast to the kingdom of God would suffer greatly. Their families would disown them, their friends would deny them, their communities would shun them, and those in power would go to any length to silence them.

What cultural issues have been reported and addressed in recent years that might have been kept hidden away in the past? In what ways might bringing these issues to light help to move the kingdom of God forward? What risks are you willing to take to share the good news of Jesus Christ for all people?

In prayer, ask Jesus what thoughts, attitudes, and positions in your heart and mind could use a little dose of light.