Watch God Work Through Brokenness!
On the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 7, 2024, I preached about the Holy Spirit. My subject was, “What do you say to Dry Bones?” As we continue to study about the Holy Spirit, we are today looking at “God Working Through Brokenness!”
I remind you that the Bible is full of inspirational stories about how to be encouraged in difficult situations, but the problem is knowing which story is applicable to our particular problem. The answer is we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show us what scripture will aide us in our time of distress.
We are further reminded, in a short list, that the Holy Spirt 1) comforts believers; 2) teaches believers and 3) convicts sinners. Let us add one more, as even in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit presented himself to individuals as a conduit of communication between God and flesh and blood. So then, the Holy Spirit, 4) provides the vehicle of communication for human spirit to God’s spirit.
As we look at the subject text of Genesis 16, we are presented to individuals who are operating in brokenness. Sarai presents herself as, “God’s Little Helper.” She tells her husband Abram that since God has prevented her from bearing a child, he should take as his wife her Egyptian handmaid. If Sarai had trusted God’s process and just waited until Chapter 18 of Genesis, she would have heard the Lord say, “…I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.”
There is brokenness in Abram. The one called “God’s friend” (James 2:23) fails to exercise godly leadership in his own home. He failed to be a shepherd for his family. Sari is his wife, but Hagar is also a part of his family. She is carrying his child. Isaiah 1:17 tells us to learn to do right, seek justice, defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
The brokenness is, of course, apparent in Hagar. Hagar, called the handmaid of Sarai, is a young female slave. Call her handmaid, call her personal attendant, call her bondswoman, or call her chattel, she was not there of her free will, and she lived a life based on the dictates of Sarai. She was forced to bear a child with a man who would not protect her or give her guidance.
Hagar, still broken, is now with child and she despised Sarai. Let’s be real, Sarai gave her to Abram without Hagar’s input and maybe Hagar thought she could get back at Sarai now that she is carrying the child of Abram. That did not work and Sarai “one-upped” Hagar by complaining to Abram and he told her to do what she wanted to with Hagar. Sarai’s treatment of her slave became so unbearable, Hagar ran away. In verse 7 of Genesis 16, Hagar is “found sitting by a fountain of water in the wilderness…”
Water in the Bible represents renewal and hope, and Hagar could see the water with her natural vision. In the natural she felt she would be alright. After all, she was near water and there would be somebody coming by to help her. But Hagar was a broken woman.
The angel of the Lord met Hagar where she was. (God sees us and does not demand that we “get over” what has broken us or to fix ourselves. He will meet us in the brokenness. He will meet us where we are.) The angel told Hagar to return to Sarai and to even submit herself under the rule of Sarai. (Sometimes, the Holy Spirit will reveal a word from God that’s hard to accept.)
Hagar received the word to go back, even if it was not what she wanted to hear. The Holy Spirit was at work with Hagar. After Hagar accepted the first word from the angel of the Lord, she received a prophetic word. The Lord promised her he would multiply her seed “exceedingly.” The Holy Spirit is still at work and Hagar says something that no one in the Bible has said before, she calls the Lord “the God who sees me – El Roi.”
That’s not the end of the story, Hagar goes back and remains the slave of Sarai and Ishmael is born, but soon after, Sarah and Abraham — The names have changed, and we will speak of this in another article/sermon — are blessed with Isaac. Now Sarah sees to it that Hagar and Ishmael are tossed out in the desert. Genesis 21:15 the Bible says “…the water was spent in the bottle…” This time Hagar did not see water with her natural vision. She didn’t perceive she would receive help. Here she was, one more time the victim and not the victor, the tail and not the head. She went off away from her child to keep from seeing her son suffer and she “wept.”
It does not matter how we feel in our brokenness. It does not change the fact that God sees us. In her first encounter with God, Hagar had spoken a holy inspired truth. She had named God, El Roi, and, of course, God saw her. He provided water in her despair.
Genesis 21:19 does not say she opened her eyes. It says “And God opened her eyes, and she saw…” Even in our brokenness, if we will remember that we are not alone, we can cry unto the Lord. He is our El Roi. God is no respecter of persons; what he did for Hagar, he will do for us. He will heal our brokenness.
St. James AME Church is located at 360 Dorothy St. in Charleston, and worship service is held on the first and third Sundays of each month at 11 a.m.
