Introduction
Deserts are defined as land regions that receive less than 10 inches of rain per year...
They typically have little to no vegetation or plant life...
and very few animals are able to live there...
for people who live in the desert...
it is a harsh life...
largely centered on where they can find water...
people can die in the desert...
the extreme temperatures...
and the lack of water...
can be deadly...
20% of the earth’s surface is considered desert...
that might seem high...
but, because Antarctica is considered a desert by definition...
although it’s very cold...
not hot at all...
it meets the definition because of the lack of precipitation...
In my studies, I counted 69 deserts in the world...
Next to Antarctica...
The Sahara desert is the next largest...
here in North America, we have 4 deserts...
including the Mojave Desert and Sonora Desert...
Living here in Florida...
it might seem strange to talk about deserts...
we live in an area of high rainfall...
on the east coast...
our nearest deserts are on the west coast...
but my purpose in talking about deserts...
is more than just physical deserts...
sometimes we find ourselves in a desert spiritually speaking...
we might feel that our relationship with the Lord is a little dry...
not much rainfall of late...
and yet, even in the desert...
we can find that God is still with us...
and if we can tune our hearts to what God is saying to us...
it can be a time of great spiritual growth...
In my study of Scripture...
I found several people in the Bible who found themselves quite literally...
in a real physical desert...
and in each case...
God could be found there...
It is my hope...
to look at some of these people who found themselves in a literal desert...
but they also found themselves in a spiritual desert...
and we will look at how God met with them there...
at their point of need...
And also to look at ourselves...
and see if we might also be in a similar desert to these people in the Bible...
Not the literal desert...
but the spiritual desert that they were in...
Most of you know that Lent started last Wednesday...
Lent is the 40 days of time from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday...
Not counting the Sundays...
Lent is a time of spiritual reflection and introspection...
it is a time to focus upon Jesus Christ and His life...
with an eye toward that great celebration of the Church...Easter Sunday...
Lent is a time of prayer and fasting...
often someone might “give up something for Lent”...
They might fast a meal...
or they might go a whole day without food...
or they might give up soft drinks...
chocolate...
or TV or facebook or video games...
something that has a hold on them...
and for 40 days, we use that time when we WOULD be eating that meal...
or watching TV...
and we focus upon Jesus in prayer, fasting and Bible reading...
The reason Sundays aren’t included in the 40 days leading up to Easter...
is because ever since Jesus rose on Sunday...
Every Sunday since has been a celebration...
and a reminder that Jesus is risen!!
Before the resurrection, Saturday was their Sabbath...
and some religions still hold to the Saturday Sabbath...
But since the resurrection...
those early disciples started meeting on Sundays...
to worship the living Christ...
and we have done it every since!!
The 40 days of Lent correlate to the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert fasting and praying and being tempted...
just before He embarked on His public ministry...
As a part of this Lenten journey...
we identify with Christ and His time spent in the desert...
Today is the 1st Sunday since Lent began last Wednesday...
As we join Christ in the desert during Lent...
Let us look at some of these Biblical deserts...
Today, let’s look at the desert that Hagar found herself in...
Read Scripture: Genesis 16:1-16
The Story
Now, you probably remember the story of Abraham and Sarah...
they were unable to have children...
but God promised that they would become a great nation...
and their descendants would be as numerous as the stars...
however, Abraham and Sarah were getting up there in years...
and Sarah...bless her heart...
thought she would help God out...
It was their custom that a childless wife would provide a maidservant to her husband in order to bear a child...
but the child would be considered hers...and not the maidservants...
Sarah had a maidservant from Egypt named Hagar...
She offered her to Abraham to become his wife...
And she became pregnant...
When she got pregnant...
she started pulling attitude toward Sarah...
here...a woman who was a maidservant...
was rubbing it in Sarah’s face...
Sarah wasn’t going to take this sitting down...
Custom dictated that maidservant wives must not disrespect the principal wife...
So Sarah went to Abraham to have him address the situation...
and again...Abraham just goes with the flow...
he doesn’t want to get in the middle of the 2 wives...
so he gives Sarah permission to do as she pleases...
The same custom that allowed for Sarah to give Abraham her maidservant as his wife...
was also the same custom that would have prohibited Sarah from sending Hagar away because she was pregnant...
but Sarah was resourceful...
she didn’t actually send Hagar away...
but she made her life so miserable...
that she ran away on her own...
So, here’s Hagar...
pregnant...
alone...
and she is traveling through the desert of Shur...
The Bible tells us that an angel of the Lord finds Hagar near a spring in the desert...
The angel asks Hagar what is wrong...
and Hagar tells the angel about Sarah’s mistreatment...
The angel then tells Hagar to go back to Sarah and submit to her...
Probably not the answer that Hagar wanted to hear...
but then the angel goes on to promise that Hagar’s descendants would also become very numerous...
He tells Hagar that she is going to have a son...
and that she is to name him Ishmael...
which means, “God hears”...
because God has heard about her misery...
The angel also tells Hagar that her son will be kind of wild and stubborn...
and live in antagonism with other people...
In any event...
Hagar is blessed to have an angel appear unto her...
even though the message he brought was a mixed blessing...
So she names the place, “Beer Lahai Roi”...
which means “The well of the Living One who sees me”...
She goes back to Abraham and Sarah...
and she bears a son, just like the angel promised...
and Abraham names the boy Ishmael...
according to the mother’s wishes...
The Desert of the God Who Sees Me
This desert that Hagar found herself in...
is called the Desert of Shur...
In today’s geography, we would call it the Sinai Desert...
it is along the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula...
I’m going to call it The Desert of the God Who Sees Me...
Which is the name that Hagar gave the spring or well she was sitting by when the angel of the Lord came to her when she was all alone...
The Desert of the God Who Sees Me...
speaks to us about God’s love and faithfulness...
it speaks to us about those times when we feel all alone...
The Desert of the God Who See Me...
tells us that, even when we THINK we are alone...
Jesus will still be there...
There are times that we may feel all alone...
we may feel that we are being mistreated...
that people don’t like us...
We may even try to run away from difficult situations...
One of the lessons of Hagar is...
God sees us...
He knows what we are going through...
He cares about us...
And He comes to us and comforts us in our time of loneliness and need...
However, the message from the Lord may also be...
don’t run away from your problems...
confront them in the strength of the Lord...
Jesus DIDN’T say that following Him will always be easy...
What Jesus DID say was
“In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world”
JOHN 16:33
Hagar went back to a difficult situation...
but she went with the knowledge that God would help her...
and God knew what was going on in her life...
and that God would bless her in a big way.
Those of us who have lived any time at all...
we realize that trouble comes...
but, may we also realize that Jesus is with us...
and, by the power of Christ...we will overcome....
Interestingly, several commentators indicate that this “angel” that Hagar saw...
was actually the pre-existent Christ...
In verse 13, she refers to Him as “Lord” and “God”...
If that is indeed the case...
then Jesus was with Hagar...
and by His encouragement and strength...
Hagar was able to do what He asked of her to do...
Do you find yourself in a desert like Hagar?...
Are you running away from a difficult situation?...
Are you lonely? Afraid?...
Take comfort in the realization that Jesus knows all about what you are going through...
Take comfort that He knows what is best for you...
Listen to His voice...
Allow Him to speak to you in your desert...
Allow Him to guide and direct your path...
Allow HIm to bless you and be with you...
Hagar had an incredible encounter with an angel of the Lord...
Perhaps even Jesus Himself...
And you can too...
even in the desert that you find yourself in...
Psalm 63:1 says,
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
Jesus said,
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness...
For they shall be filled”
Conclusion
John Maxwell tells a story about A newly married woman who insisted on going to the California desert...
so she could be near her husband who was a soldier...
The only place the couple could find to live was a rundown shack near an Indian village.
The daytime heat was unbearable-105 degrees in the shade...
The dry wind blew constantly, ...
covering everything with dust. ...
None of the Indians spoke English. ...
The young wife was miserable.
Then she learned that her husband was going deeper into the desert for 2 weeks...
So she wrote her mother and asked if she could come home.
In her mother’s reply were these words: "Two men looked through prison bars; one saw mud, the other saw stars."
As the woman read those lines over and over,...
she decided to change...
She would look for the stars.
She set out to make friends with the Indians...
When they saw her genuine interest,...
they taught her weaving and pottery...
She learned their culture.
Then she began to study the desert itself-...
its cacti, Joshua trees, and seashells left behind by the sands of a long ago ocean...
Not only did she survive,...
she became known as an expert on the area ...
and later published a book about it.
Are you in an unbearable, inescapable situation?...
do you feel lonely?
Do you feel like you are in a desert?...
Do you have a negative attitude?...
Like Hagar...
and like this wife,...
you can change....
The power and the presence of Jesus Christ can give you a whole new outlook on your situation...
The situation itself may not change...
but your attitude toward it can be miraculously changed...
you can encounter Jesus Christ here today...
even if you find yourself in the desert...
realize...it is The Desert of the God Who Sees Me
#324 Come, Every One Who Is Thirsty
