By Andrea Goebel
God’s Way
“Get back in there, champ!”
“Don’t waste a precious minute.”
“You’ve survived tougher.”
I laughed as I read the positive messages typed on the cough drop wrapper, yet I also felt humbled. God knows what I need — always — and here in this moment, he knew I needed a pep talk. Everyone was in bed but my daughter and me, and I felt so tired. Before I tucked her in, I paused at our kitchen island, bowed my head and prayed.
Afterward, I grabbed a cough drop from a bag I had just found in the kitchen. As I unwrapped it, I saw the positive words highlighted all over the wrapper, and I knew God was with me in even the seemingly small moments.
In the weeks following my husband’s car accident, life felt like a rollercoaster. Our old routine was gone, and as we navigated our temporary normal, I experienced my own path of highs and lows. Some days, I felt so confident in God’s plan — even when I couldn’t see where he was leading our family. Other days, I simply craved a clear, smooth route.
However, no matter how I feel on a given day, God is always present.
In Genesis 16, we read the story of Hagar, the servant of Sarah, wife of Abraham. Sarah instructed Hagar to have a child with Abraham since she did not think she herself was able to have children. However, after Hagar became pregnant, Sarah treated her cruelly, so Hagar ran away.
After Hagar fled, “The Lord’s angel found her by a spring in the wilderness” (Genesis 16:7). Even though Hagar was mistreated and felt abandoned, God did not forget her. He spoke to her through his angel: “You are now pregnant and shall bear a son; you shall name him Ishmael, For the Lord has heeded your affliction” (11).
God heard and saw the suffering of Hagar, and after this interaction with God’s angel, Hagar spoke directly to God, saying, “You are God who sees me” (13). She realized that he had not left her to suffer alone, and he will never leave us alone, either. In the midst of trials, we might feel like God has abandoned us, but this is never the case. We just have to trust his plan even though we cannot see it in its entirety.
Hagar obeyed the angel’s command to return to her position as Sarah’s servant, and she gave birth to Ishmael. Later, after Sarah forced her to leave with her son, Hagar despaired again. She thought she and her son would die because they had no water to drink. Yet, God provided for them just as he had before.
As she cried, “God’s angel called to Hagar from heaven: ‘What is the matter, Hagar? Do not fear; God has heard the boy’s voice in this plight of his.Get up, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand; for I will make of him a great nation.’ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water” (21:16-19). Just when Hagar thought all hope was lost, God gave her exactly what she and her son needed.
God works on his time, not ours, and his answers to our prayers may look different than what we think they will. However, he always has a plan, and it is always for our good. We must trust and obey him through challenging circumstances as well as good times, and he will guide us through.