Open My Eyes

"So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, 'Let me not see the death of the boy.' So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. And God heard... Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink." Genesis 21:14-17a, 19

There's something so heart wrenching and sad about the story of Hagar and Ishmael wandering in the wilderness.  It's every mother's worst nightmare.  She's trying to support her son and she just can't do it alone.  There's literally no water.  As her son's body is starting to shut down, she can't even hold him.  Instead, she sits down a few feet away and cries.  I wonder how many mothers have experienced this ultimate helplessness?  How many women have completely given up because they cannot save their own child?  How many people give up completely because they are consumed by helplessness and the realization that life is completely out of their own hands?

 I've always wondered why God allowed Hagar's situation to get to such a dire point?  God had already promised Abraham that Ishmael would be the father of a nation.  But as Hagar watches Ishmael's body slowly waste away, she is faced with humanity and the limits of this world.  She actually believes that her son, who has a predestined promise and future, is going to die.  Then God acts.

God opens her eyes to see a well of water.  He doesn't spontaneously cause a spring of water to flow from the earth.  He doesn't have another human bring them a bucket of water.  Instead, God opens her eyes to the well.  This implies that the well was there the entire time and she just couldn't see it.  God had provided for Hagar and Ishmael from the beginning, but they could not be saved until they could see clearly.

How many of us are missing the wells of water in our own lives that are right in front of us?  Let us not wilt away into a helpless state because we cannot see the provision that God has given us.  Let us seek to see what God has for us.  May God open our hearts and minds to the goodness that He has in store for us.  Then, when we face our own dire situations, we will not be in a helpless state. 

I love the words of this old hymn. May it be the cry our our hearts today.

Open My Eyes, That I May See 

 by Clara H. Scott

Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.

Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my ears, that I may hear
Voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
Everything false will disappear.

Open my mouth, and let me bear,
Gladly the warm truth everywhere;
Open my heart and let me prepare
Love with Thy children thus to share.