Can't See the Well for the Bushes

Anxiety, it grips us and rips us apart at times. Webster's Dictionary defines anxiety as "an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physiological signs (such as sweating, tension, and increased pulse), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with it."

Anxiety is often created by apprehension of an event that has not occurred and most often never does occur. But in the midst of anxious feelings, it is very difficult to be realistic. That is why it is so important to have a friend that can help you see past the emotions and into reality. Look at Hagar and her anxiety over being sent away from Abraham with her teenage child Ishmael.

When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. (Genesis 21:15-19 ESV).

I find it interesting that God heard Ishmael's prayers. It makes me wonder if Hagar was so caught up in her misery and was so overcome that she could not even pray to God for help. God is faithful. God had promised Hagar in the past that Ishmael would grow up to be the father of a great nation. God seems so far away though, when we are so bogged down in anxiety and worry. God never leaves us. We turn from Him. He is there, waiting like a patient father.

Did you notice the solution to Hagar's problem was within sight of her? Or, did you notice that God's answer was right there in front of her in the form of a well? When Hagar stopped and listened to God, Hagar was given the answer. When Hagar was depending on Hagar, there was no hope. With God there is hope and through Christ there is hope for all of us. Like the old cliché, "you can't see the forest for the trees," Hagar could not see the well for the bushes. So often God's answers are right in front of us. We just need to stop long enough to pray and listen. We need to seek counsel from our wise Christian friends, who can see the wells apart from the bushes and help us do the same.