So I told you awhile back that I started a Bible study at church, The Patriarchs. Since Grant was up at 4:22 a.m. and back to sleep at 5:30, I decided to stay awake and actually DO my homework this week. I always thump myself in the head after spending some time in God's Word....duh! Why don't I do this daily? The wisdom is so timely and so relevant - always.

I can't summarize as eloquently as Beth Moore, but I'll do my best. This morning I was reading in Genesis about Sarai and Abram (Sarah & Abraham). If you aren't familiar with the story, God promised Sarah & Abraham more descendants than there are stars in the sky, despite their elderly age. When God makes a promise - He keeps it. However, Sarah & Abraham grew impatient and tried to take matters into their own hands. (sound familiar? I know it did for me). Sarah suggested they use one of her servants (Hagar) to bear a child for them. (surrogacy). This was common practice then. When Hagar became pregnant with Abraham's child, things turned ugly. Sarah became resentful and blamed Abraham. Abraham basically told her to "do with her whatever you think is best." (Now ain't that the typical male/female dynamic happening here?). Hagar was distraught and ran away...but God found her. Actually, we know God always knew where she was - but the words FOUND her implies that when we are lost - God is SEEKING us...he's ALWAYS seeking us.

Anyway, Hagar calls God the "God who SEES me." Now isn't that the TRUTH? God SEES us...He KNOWS us...He KNOWS our suffering. Now there is much more to the story - but I'm going to stop here to say that what I've relayed so far is a great lesson in being faithful.

God makes promises to all of us - all we have to do is be faithful to Him...to have faith that God will do what He says He'll do. When we don't - as Sarah and Abraham demonstrate when they tried to hurry things up and take things into their own hands - discontent and disaster ensue.

So, the lesson for me is....when we are feeling discontent in our jobs, our marriages - feeling mistreated by friends or relatives - are we waiting on God - showing faith in His promises? Or are we jumping to take the reigns as Sarah and Abraham did? And as Dr. Phil would say...."How's that workin' for ya?" I think we all know the answer to that one.

I'm going to leave you with a few wonderful points that Beth Moore makes:

* God never oppresses people. People oppress people.
* We are not an afterthought to God. We are the point of His involvement with this planet. He doesn't just tolerate us, He PURSUES us. He SEEKS us.
* God has a wonderfully stubborn commitment to covenant - to keep His promises to stubborn, faithless people.
* He has a plan, even when we leave it.
* God sees when no one else cares to look. He sees through the smile we wear when we're dying inside. He sees our hurt when we're mistreated. He sees us when we cry into our pillow because we feel unloved. He sees beyond our sin into the depth of our need. He sees when we're hiding. Running. He sees when we continue to sow the seed of His Word even in the floodplain of our grief. He is the God who sees YOU.