Sometimes it’s getting cut from the sports team, or not getting the part in the play, or not getting the grade you were sure you deserved.
Sometimes it’s losing your job because of company restructuring. Sometimes it’s losing your credit rating because your soon-to-be-ex -spouse ran up your joint credit cards unbeknownst to you. Sometimes it’s losing your health because your employer wasn’t paying attention to environmental hazards, and you are suffering because of it.
Sometimes it’s receiving a cold shoulder when you really needed one to cry on. Sometimes it’s a door in your face because of your gender, or your skin tone, or your language, or your age, or your… Sometimes it’s being cut off from your world because somebody just decided to.
Sometimes it’s being born in the wrong part of the world. Wrong street. Wrong zip code. Wrong country. Wrong economy. And you get the raw deal.
How is God involved in all of these raw deals?
Is God making it happen? Are raw deals part of God’s business plan? If God is all powerful, is the fact that raw deals happen regularly evidence of God’s indifference? Or worse, does it suggest that God is actually not loving, but cruel?
In the early part of our faith history, Abraham, who was called by God to become a new nation built on a new way of doing faith and life, had an old wife, Sarah, who was not bearing him a son as God promised. The husband and wife decided to do something about their infertility issue, so they used Hagar, Sarah’s servant, to provide a child for Abraham.
Nature took its course, and Hagar bore a son, Ishmael. Pretty big deal for Hagar, who probably didn’t have many prospects in that patriarchal world at landing a successful, rich businessman anytime soon.
But Sarah eventually did produce a son – Isaac – just as God promised she would. If you’ve ever watched The Bachelor when a bunch of women are vying for one man, you know what was going to come next. Let the competition begin!
Hagar lost. So did Ishmael. They never had a chance. She got a raw deal. She was ready to fold.
They were banished from Abraham’s household – kicked to the curb. Except there weren’t any curbs. No nothing – they were stuck. Hagar was pretty sure they were going to die.
How did God respond to this situation of which God was very much aware?
God showed up. In her darkest hour, somehow she was visited by God in such a powerful way that it could not be missed. The fact that her story continued is probably the greatest testament to this fact. Presence is underrated in our individualized culture. But when you’re down, nothing beats knowing you’re not alone.
God showed up with peace. When God showed up, the first words communicated were, “Do not be afraid!” God was present to give calm in spite of great anxiety.
God showed up with instruction. A great act of caring shows up in God’s instruction to Hagar to simply get up and take care of her son. Sometimes, when people are under great stress, they don’t think of obvious things they need to do, like paying bills, staying healthy, taking care of dependents, etc. God’s instruction informs us that God was aware of Hagar’s situation and responded appropriately.
God showed up with a future of hope. God not only gave her specific instruction, but hope-filled motivation as well. From her vantage point, all she could see was gloom and doom – a classic sign of depression. But God saw a much bigger picture, and communicated that vision to her. It served to get her moving again, to go after a future for her son, believing that God wasn’t yet finished with her.
How about you? Are you in a Hagar situation?
God hasn’t abandoned you. Be open to God’s presence, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you discover the Company you’re in!
God has peace to give you, and it stems from your relationship with your Creator. So listen to the voice of God whispering and shouting in your direction.
God has instruction for you. The Bible is an incredible source of ethical instruction on just about any situation you’ll ever face. Have you looked there for help? But if you don’t, God still will try to instruct you – pay attention to the voice of God, seek counsel from those who walk with God closely, and move forward.
God’s future for you is good. God has “forever” in mind for you. God sees great potential in you for healthy relationships, a meaningful life of impact, and most importantly, a relationship with God that continually defines life and success differently and better than does the world in which we live.
What about the "Hagars" in your world? What should you do about them?
Be as God to them. Be there. With peace. With instruction. With words of a great future rooted in faith.
God is with you. God desires to work through you. So Go be Jesus to somebody! Because raw deals will always be dealt in this world, but it doesn’t mean we have to fold.
Questions to Ponder...
- Do I believe that God wills injustice to people - to me? If so, what are the theological implications? How does this belief affect my prayers?
- Jesus once told the Pharisees, "A house divided cannot stand." This axiom communicated to them that God is not a proponent of evil - and cannot be. So, if God isn't causing bad things to happen, what possible other explanations are there?
- What are the raw deals you're struggling with right now?
- How have you been open to God's presence? God's peace? God's instruction? God's hopeful future?
- Who in your immediate sphere has been dealt a raw deal? How can you be an agent of God's presence, peace, instruction, and hope?
- Who in the far reaches of the world has been dealt a raw deal? How can you be an agent of God to them and for them before they fold?
A Benediction... May you be so overwhelmed by the reality of God's hopeful, instructive, peaceful presence that you thrive in spite of whatever raw deal you've been dealt. May you be so humbled by God's loving care that your immediate reponse is to be used of God to lift somebody else out of their pain. Shalom!
Bonus! Watch the Nairobi Videofrom Sunday. Download Here: http://www.onlinefilefolder.com/index.php?action=getshare&type=0&user_num=43737&share_id=219768&hash=ede7f1059b70a2e8b98c3c6920ec3c1f
2 comments:
1. If God wills injustice for people then really Christianity is a wash and the bible isn't true. There would be no reason to have faith because it would more than likely be a social pecking order as to who is given justice, which is completely contrary to what Jesus teaches us. There wouldn't be a need for prayer because it would most likely fall on deaf ears if God is unjust. But once again is goes completely against what Jesus says and does. He was in constant communication with God right to end.
2. At some point there has to be the blind acertion (faith) that God is there in the middle of bads things. That because I believe what the bible says that God is a just and loving God then I have to believe something better for his Kingdom will come out of the storm. When you brings praises to Him during these times his massive and caring arms can be felt touching, hugging and lifting up those who are in times of pain. His heart is breaking with the mother of a child who just died, His heart is breaking with the husband who's wife is having an affair. God is there...but that is not to say he has turned his back on us. If that was the case then we would have been wiped out a long time ago. This kind of faith comes from walking with and talking with the loving God that gave us life, gave us joy and gave us a way to eternity.
Sanchez
Thanks, Pete. I needed the reminder today. Things get so overwhelming sometimes when there is so much big stuff going on that it feels like God doesn't really care but that's mostly because I have put Him on the back burner, not the other way around. No raw deals lately, per se, but needed to be reminded that God cares in all sorts of situations.
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