Whence comest thou, and whither wilt thou go?

By Michael Pemberton

“And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.  And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.  And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.  And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.”  -Genesis 16:7-10

 As I think back on it, I cannot remember just how I managed to wander so far from God.  All I do remember is that things that seemed so very clear to me just a couple months earlier were suddenly very fuzzy.  God seemed far away.  So did my joy.  I do remember that I felt myself slipping into sin and depression at an alarming rate.  I remember that I had not been to church in over a month.  And I remember Jim.

 How could I forget Jim?  It was about 7:00 one Sunday morning in the midst of that deep depression when I heard a knock on my door.  Not a little tap - more like a solid pounding.  What kind of impolite slob pounds on someone’s door that early?  I got out of bed and flung the door open in anger.  Bad move.  Jim was in the door before I could get the first syllable out and hit me right in the chest.  Good tackle.  Next thing I knew I was on my back looking up at Jim, who was sitting on my chest.

 “Where have you been? “ He growled.  I didn’t know what to say.  I had been around, but not around church or the Christian Servicemen’s Center.  “Around,” I answered, “What do you care?” 

 He growled again, “You’ve got 15 minutes to get ready for church.” 

 “What?” I said, indignantly.  His eyes seemed to burn holes in my head.  Then his voice got calm and steely.  Through clenched teeth he said, “You are not going to fall back to the devil.  Not while I’m here.  Not on my watch.  Now get dressed.”  I did.

 I know what you’re thinking.  Yes.  His methods might seem a little harsh.  But I cannot tell you how thankful I am for that day.  Who knows where I would be today if it weren’t for his rebuke.  So many times since then I would have slipped, and just then his face came back to me.  And so did his message of love.  I wish we all had friends like Jim.

 Really, that’s what God was saying to Hagar.   Basically like a parent might say to a wandering child, “Where have you been?”  Good question.  Hagar had been in a place of blessing.  She would not have had the child at all if she had not been in Sarah’s service.  She could have been in far worse situations than just her mistress's anger; after all she was a slave.  And why was Sarah angry?  It was Hagar’s fault because she began to despise Sarah over the child.  It was the pride of saying, “You couldn’t meet Abraham’s need and I could!”  It’s a terrible thing to realize that we are most frequently the cause of our own discomfort.

 Then God asks that other very parental question, “Where do you think you’re going?”

 Away from the place of blessing, that’s where.  I’m running away.  Hagar was headed for: she knew not what.  That’s the way it is when we run from the Lord.  We head out, but nobody knows where to.  Be careful when you run from the place that God put you.  You are probably headed for the wastelands.  Some of the most miserable people I have ever met haven’t been the lost; they’ve been Christians who ran from God.

 Then God gives that very wise and simple, and again parental instruction, “Get back in your seat!”  Oh, the wisdom of God!  A wise man once told me, “Never change in the dark what you set in the light.”   That is, when everything was clear and you could think the best, and you were closest to the Lord, you made some decisions.  Between then and now, the lights went out.  This is not the time to change your mind and go screaming into the great unknown.  This is the time to trust in the leading that the Lord gave you when the lights were on.  TRUST!

There’s another way to look at God’s instruction to Hagar.  When you find yourself confused, unable to determine which way to go, unsure of what to believe, or simply lost, turn around.  Go back to the last point where you did know, trust and believe.  Perhaps you made some decision.  Perhaps there is some sin that needs to be dealt with.  Or maybe, like the church in the Revelation, you simply left God.  Do what he told them to do: remember where you came from, repent and do the things you used to do the last time you could see clearly. (Revelation 2:5)

 Let me say this as plainly and as I politely can.  The absolutely stupidest thing we can do when things get dark in our life is to take matters into our own hands, quit trusting and obeying God, and determine to make some changes.   God told the Jews, “In returning and rest you shall be saved.” (Isaiah 30:15)  And so shall we.  We will never, NEVER, improve our life by running from God.  Not if we are his children.

 Consider what Proverbs says: “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)  Running out in unbelief can seem so right.  Don’t be fooled.

 Please notice the last thing our loving Lord says to Hagar: “There I will bless you.”  He never upbraids!  He will not look at you and say, “Stupid kid.  You should never have run away.”  No!  Instead he looks at you and says, “Come back to where the blessings are and let me bless you.”  Have you ever noticed how effective the Lord is at throwing barriers in your way when you try to run from him?  He is just as effective at removing all the barriers when you try to come back to him.  The point is, there is no reason to wait.  Turn back today.  Now!  “Behold, now is the accepted time.” (II Corinthians 6:2)