Day 2: Choosing Your Response
Day 2: Choosing Your Response
Reading:
Genesis 21:14-19
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she[a] began to sob. 17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.
Devotional:
Hagar found herself thrust into circumstances beyond her control—a victim of others' lack of faith. Yet her story teaches us a profound truth: you've never been in control, but you always have a choice.
Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond. Hagar couldn't control being used as a surrogate or later being sent away with her son. But when they faced death in the wilderness, God heard their cries and opened her eyes to see the provision already there—a well she had missed because she was focused on her problem.
Make two lists today: things you cannot control and things you can choose. You cannot control others' decisions or your past, but you can choose your attitude, your response, and your worship. Even in the pressure cooker of difficult circumstances, choose to look outward to God rather than inward at your pain.
Genesis 21:14-19
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she[a] began to sob. 17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.
Devotional:
Hagar found herself thrust into circumstances beyond her control—a victim of others' lack of faith. Yet her story teaches us a profound truth: you've never been in control, but you always have a choice.
Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond. Hagar couldn't control being used as a surrogate or later being sent away with her son. But when they faced death in the wilderness, God heard their cries and opened her eyes to see the provision already there—a well she had missed because she was focused on her problem.
Make two lists today: things you cannot control and things you can choose. You cannot control others' decisions or your past, but you can choose your attitude, your response, and your worship. Even in the pressure cooker of difficult circumstances, choose to look outward to God rather than inward at your pain.