WHERE HAVE YOU COME FROM AND WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
GENESIS 16.8
"I
am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contented condition, when
suddenly a stab of pain threatens serious disease, or a newspaper headline
threatens us all with destruction.
"At
first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happiness look like broken toys. And
perhaps, by God's grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature
consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources.
But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys.
"Thus
the terrible necessity of tribulation in only too clear. God has had me for but
48 hours and then only by dint of taking everything else away from me. Let Him
but sheathe the sword for a minute, and I behave like a puppy when the hated
bath is over -- I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my
comfortable dirtiness in the nearest flower bed.
"And
that is why tribulation cannot cease until God sees us remade."
The Purposes of God
The purposes of God often develop slowly because His grand
designs are never hurried.
The great New England preacher Phillips Brooks was noted for
his poise and quiet manner. At times, however, even he suffered moments of
frustration and irritability. One day a friend saw him feverishly pacing the
floor like a caged lion. “What’s the trouble, Mr. Brooks?” he asked. “The
trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!” Haven’t we felt the same way
many times.
J.A.F.N.
This is Canaan the
promised land as we will easily deduce from the 17th chapter.
It is possible that we
find time to complain whine and nudge yet we do not understand that we are in
the Canaan of our lives.
The name
Canaan in the Bible
Canaan is
the name of the fourth son of Ham, the
youngest son of Noah(Genesis
9:18). Canaan becomes the recipient of a curious curse that makes him the
perpetual servant of his two uncles Japheth and Shem. After having survived the flood and their 230
days stay in the ark (40 days of rain, 150 days of floating, 40 days of
drying) Noah plants a vineyard, makes wine and gets drunk and lays naked in his
tent. Then not Canaan but Ham, the father of Canaan, sees Noah naked and quips
about it to Shem and Japheth. The two older brothers walk into their father's
tent backwards and cover Noah without looking at him.
When Noah
awakes he learns what Ham has done but then lashes out at Canaan, Ham's fourth
son. He says that Japheth should become large but live in the tents of Shem,
but Canaan should be the servant of all of them. Why Noah gets so upset with
Canaan instead of Ham is unknown but later Canaan would give his name to the
much coveted country of Canaan and the people who live there. The original
Canaanites (an ethically diverse group of people) are displaced by Israel (Deuteronomy
7:1).
Canaan's
brothers are Cush (the
Biblical name for Ethiopia), Mizraim (the
Biblical name for Egypt)
and Put.
Canaan's eleven sons as listed in 1 Chronicles 1:13 are also all known nations,
among whom Sidon, Heth,Jebusites (who
owned Jerusalem—Joshua
10:1, 2 Samuel 5:6 ), Amorites,Hivites.
In the
Greek New Testament the name Canaan is spelled Χανααν and Canaanite is
spelled Χαναναιος.
Both Matthew and Mark make
mention of a Simon the
Canaanite (Κανανιτης; Matthew
10:4, Mark 3:18), but that epithet probably has nothing to do with the country
Canaan. See our article on the name Simon for more details.
Etymology
of the name Canaan
The name
Canaan may have been original—meaning "land of purple," says HAW
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, which relates it to Phoenicia, also
meaning purple—and turned proverbial, but it may also have been taken from
the Hebrew verb כנע (kana)and
projected back upon this person. Either way, the name Canaan surely has to do
with the Hebrew verb כנע (kana)
meaning be humbled:
Abarim Publications Theological Dictionary
כנע
The root-verb כנע (kana') means to be humbled, subdued, brought down or
into subjection.
About
this verb, HAW Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states, "It
denoted bringing a proud and recalcitrant people or spirit into
subjection."
About
half of the thirty six occurrences of this verb are in the reports of military
campaigns (Nehemiah 9:24). A large portion of the other occurrences deal with a
king's submission to God (1 Kings 21:29).
HAW
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament notes two striking usages of this
verb, namely in Leviticus 26:41 and 2 Chronicles 7:14, where humility is a key
condition for God's blessing.
This root yields one derivative, the feminine noun כנעה (kin'a),
meaning bundle or pack (Jeremiah 10:17 only).
Is it that God never
knew?
Was God surprised?
Rather what God wanted
was to draw Hagar’s attention to Jehovah!
This question should befit
your answer/
WHERE ARE YOU IN YOUR LIFE AND WHERE ARE YOU HEADED TO?
Let us trace what is
the course for all this trouble.
Hagar just acted
kindly and in obedience to the call of her mistress who disparately wanted a
child to continue her linage.
Sarai wanted to cover
her nakedness and save face for lack of children
Amidst this humanly
attempt, this is the result, and what a result for that matter?
But Hagar is not
without blame
Verse 4, she despised
her mistress
And how we quickly
forget?
Sarai in this case now
blames Abram, forgetting she is the same one who did send her husband who never
considered God’s opinion first but just took heed of her wife’s proposal.
The result is a
tragedy!
However amidst all the
revelation, Abram comes out soberly, very maturely with much wisdom and to
Sarai with amazement.
Verse 6 Abram
declares:-
› the servant is in
your hands
› Do with her whatever
is best [not good, but best].
›simply put, deal with
her from a superior level.
Let the punishment be
visible enough.
And this is how God
often speaks to most of us.
He makes his promise
we do say AMEN!
After a short delay,
as we very well know and understand delay.
We start sulking,
complaining, refuse to come to church even sabotage the church activities.
Complain of a pastor
who is not performing miracles as other pastors are.
And when things become
elephant, we run back to Jesus.
It is time we realized
that Christ is not those baby dolls we normally see in shops during Christmas.
Neither is he your
equivalent so that you can proudly do whatever you deem right and then run back
to him
Abram tells Sarai,
consider and undertake the highest level of discipline you might easily think
of.
J.A.F.N
Do you think that
Hagar is wearing a pair of shoe that she fitted herself?
That is food for
thought!
So Sarai strikes and
she does it with venom.
Her decision is
weighty enough and within a few seconds of her pronouncements
a] Hagar is minus a
job, food and a place to sleep
b] With pregnancy, she
is staring at death in her eyes
But praise be to
Jehovah
-He keeps tab on me
-He is the one who
watches over me when there is darkness and the skimmer is at his antics.
My God watches over me
halleluiah!
Hagar is between a
rock and a hard surface
The dessert is a place
of:-
-hopelessness
-lifelessness
Succinctly put waiting
for death to come.
YOU
CANNOT HEAR PRAISE WHEN PAIN IS NON EXISTENT.
Beloved, where are you
in your life as this word of the lord comes forth this day?
What are you staring
at?
Could it be rent, fear
of retrenchment, finance or relationship gone sour?
What or who is
mistreating you?
Thinking of quitting?
Wait till you hear
about this!
Hager [you and I]
thought the solution was to run away but this never yielded much
Is this what you are
contemplating?
She was wrong. You are
wrong if this is the option you are about to try.
You can run away from
me
Hide from me
And do so many other
things that so you think are working for your good.
However, from God,
that is child’s play.
› DREAMING
OF VICTORY, THERE IS NON WITHOUT GOING TO THE
BATTLE GROUND. JESUS WAS INDEED GOD YET HERE WAS SUBJECT
TO THE SAME LEVEL OF TRIAL TO CONFER VICTORY TO ME
As you are running
remember, He is the one who orders your steps
Kindly be reminded
that you are not the first to attempt this
Hagar tried it
Elijah put his hand at
it
The legendary Jonah
also gave it serious trial and failed miserably.
The list is endless,
but the results are all but similar.
Failure, then total
surrender is the answer.
Then when things are
thick, God comes into the picture.
I am sure even Hagar
herself never expected this
But this is the nature
of my God.
He is Jehovah Sabaoth-
the lord of hosts.
So majestic, splendid
and awesome! Who is like Him?
› FRIEND
AND BELOVED OF GOD THERE IS THE PROMISED LAND,
HOWEVER IT IS FOR THOSE WHO ARE READY AND WILLING TO
TACKLE AND CONQUER GROUND WILDERNESS
You know man’s nature
does not like questions
And that is what God
uses to strike
God’s introduction to
Hagar is quite unique.
He does not bother
saying I am Dr. Rev. ABC
Verse 8
Hagar, servant of
Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?
This is the same
question that God is posing to you and I.
What are you running
away from?
J.A.F.N
Who wants to be
reminded of prison when he/she has just been freed from there?
Sounds like the adage
‘From pan to the
frying pan’
Let us move on and see
what unfolds ahead!
As usual, hoping for
reprieve and some sense of acceptance
She opens up
J.A.F.N
Did she even mind who
it was that was speaking to her?
For humans beings are
all too willing to open up to those whom the ‘TRUST’
Verse 8
She answers,
‘I am running away
from my mistress Sarai’.
That might describe
you
May be this is a
similar answer as you are having today
It might be what is
burdening you at this hour and you keep on wondering is there anyone who is
caring enough.
But I have good news
for you.
Forget about your
nudging spouse and sabotaging boss and the suffering they have brought you.
Forget about the names
they have baptized you
Let alone the
frustrations that you have undergone.
There is one who first
underwent all you are going through withstanding the scorn and shame to secure you
and I freedom today.
That man is Jesus and
is too willing to guide you safe and secure.
Trust me he can for he
is both loving and caring.
He is called the Great
I Am
Do you know him?
That is why he died
that we should taste death for everyone.
Bwana asifiwe Sana!
You are a child as a
result of his suffering!
Glory to Yahweh!
Now listen and put
these things down for this is the oracle of God.
I am just a mouth
piece, a voice crying out in the outer pace.
The words are the
lord’s.
Despite your
foregoing, starting NOW, first things first,
1.
Go back to your mistress
& submit to her/him
2.
I will increase your
descendants
-Beloved, God is
lifting you up, be focused, allow no distractions.
-You are prospering,
expanding and growing
-You are soaring in
the lord’s blessings
3. The ‘pregnancy’ you have will yield a son
SON:-inheritance
-growth
-Redemption,
continuation, flourishing or nourishment.
God’s proclamation is distinct
Rather it
is very specific and to the detail.
Your
blessing is specifically being handled by God himself
Yours is
not delegated.
The lord is handling
it himself
Sarai calls Him ISHMAEL-the
lord who sees me
Ever thought of this?
Where have you come
from and where are you going?
First,
He brought me here; it is by His will I am in this strait place: in that fact I
will rest.
Next, He
will keep me here in His love, and give me grace to behave as His child.
Then, He
will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn,
and working in me the grace He means to bestow.
Last, In
His good time He can bring me out again--how and when He knows.
Let me
say I am here, (1) By God's appointment, (2) In His keeping, (3) Under His
training, (4) For His time.
Andrew
Murray, quoted in Though the Mountains Shake, by Amy Carmichael, p.
The lord declares. I AM ISHMAEL
THE LORD WHO SEES!!
Time to take action is
now
This is time with the
father.
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus right
now
Right now come to
Jesus
Come to Jesus right
now
He will save you
He will wash you
He will clothe you
He will bless you
Believe it, Live it
and Act it
And now
may the good lord add blessing to his word Amen!!
Brother
Geoffrey Douglas Otuko
17th February
2011
Edited
21st August 2014
10.50hrs
