Hagar
Hagar found herself in circumstances beyond her
control. As the slave girl of Sarah, she bears a child for her only to find
herself banished and exiled. Hagar found herself in a bad place. Her
circumstances were beyond her control. She did not ask for her life to turn out
as it did, nor did she go looking for trouble. Trouble found her.
How do you react to circumstances for which you
cannot control? Will the Lord bring a blessing?
Have you ever experienced a time in your life when life suddenly changed
for the worse? What emotions did you feel? Did you struggle and ask God, “Why
me?” Were you able to trust that He had
an ultimate plan for all that was happening to you? When the conditions of your
life are not favorable, when you find yourselves lost, abandoned, alone,
afraid, to whom do we turn? In
every condition, in every situation, we cry out to the Lord. There are times
when events are outside our control, and we do not have the power to alter the
situation. When these things happen, our dependency must be upon God.
When we are blinded by the obstacles that stand
in our way, when we are tempted to lose sight of what God is doing in our lives
we turn to His words and promises which speak to us. We rely not on our
experiences but upon the clear words, the Lord has spoken. We place our lives
into His hands trusting that He will work in our lives.
O God,
whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray
from Your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith
to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word through Jesus
Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Collect for Lent 2 Lutheran Worship © Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis
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