Not Fine
Hagar- "one who fears; one who takes flight"
God uses our fears and anxieties to build our faith.
Admitting you are not fine is a sign of strength that leads to healing.
1 Peter 5:7 NIV
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
"I'm not fine, but God is."
Genesis 16:1-2 NIV
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
Genesis 16:5-9 NIV
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” 6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. 7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. 9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
Genesis 16:11-14 NIV
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:“You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son.You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” 13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
Anxiety:
1. is often caused by the bad decisions of others.
2. can cause you to run from your circumstances.
Not fight, not flight, but faith over feelings.
Anxiety:
1. is often caused by the bad decisions of others.
2. can cause you to run from your circumstances.
3. is best relieved by questions – not statements.
You can't fix an emotion.
Men, women aren't looking for a solution; they're looking for your support.
Anxiety:
1. is often caused by the bad decisions of others.
2. can cause you to run from your circumstances.
3. is best relieved by questions – not statements.
4. can be relieved when you know you are not invisible or alone.
"Anxiety is not an emotion or episode to be fixed but a challenge to be managed."
Genesis 16:11 NIV
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.
Romans 8:26 NIV
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Genesis 21:17 NIV
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.
Matthew 6:26 NIV
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Beer Lahai Roi - "the God who sees me"
Anxiety:
1. is often caused by the bad decisions of others.
2. can cause you to run from your circumstances.
3. is best relieved by questions – not statements.
4. can be relieved when you know you are not invisible or alone.
5. can be fought with the promise of hope.
Genesis 16:10 NIV
10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
1. God hears.
2. God sees.
3. God provides.
4. God guides.
Psalms 56:8 NIV
8 Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll—are they not in your record?
Revelation 21:4 NIV
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Psalms 73:21-26 NIV
21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, 22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. 23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Confidence springs from the conscious decision to recognize and acknowledge that God is with you.