Somewhere in the Judean Desert, 2017. iPhone photo by me 😊

One of the most universal things about suffering is that when your time comes to experience it, you feel like you’re going through it alone. Nobody understands. It’s isolating. Sometimes it’s just a feeling and other times you may truly be in a wilderness of your own, forsaken and secluded. Whatever your circumstances, you’re not the first to pass this way and the One who made you is all-knowing and all-seeing. Rather than allowing your thoughts to ask the challenging questions that inevitably cross your mind, consider these examples in Scripture that reveal the character of God in times like these.

I can’t help but share both of these passages, one that jumped off the page at me yesterday and the other that is so familiar that the person who experienced it feels like an old friend to me. Let’s start with my most recent reminder of who our God is, Exodus 19:1-18. I encourage you to turn there and read it now.

Elijah had just seen God show up in a fiery show of power that, in my opinion, would be at the top of a list titled, “Most Spectacular Displays of God’s Power.” It was the showdown between him, the prophet of God, and more than four hundred prophets of Baal. Our passage for today happens after that scene on Mt. Carmel, when Elijah has to flee from the evil king Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Ooo, she was a bad one. In verse three, it says that “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.” Where does he run? He leaves his servant in Beersheba and goes about a day’s journey away from there into the desert where he sits under a broom tree and prays to God.

“I have had enough, Lord. Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors.”

Have you ever felt like that? Have you cried out to God that you’ve had enough? I haven’t ever wanted God to take my life, but I know a couple of friends who have spoken those very words to me, “I just want God to take my life. This is too hard.”

After Elijah falls asleep in his spiraling anguish, an angel touches him on the shoulder and tells him to “Get up and eat.” 

When he looked around, there was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and laid back down again. Maybe he didn’t see that as a miracle. I’m not sure, but he laid right back down again. Scripture records that the angel of the Lord (God Himself), comes back and touches him a second time. What God says to him here is what hit my soul, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”

 Friends, even when you feel alone in your despair and you can’t see God in it, look for Him! He knows when our journeys are too much for us. He wants to strengthen us for the journey He is allowing in our lives! He does allow trials, but there is purpose in it. The biggest purpose is that He wants us to know Him and know that we’re known by Him, our Heavenly Father, our Creator. He wants an intimate relationship with you!

If that’s not enough, meet Hagar, the woman from Genesis who I relate so much to that she feels like an old friend. She’s not a widow, but she’s alone and grieving. She’s actually the very first person recorded in the Bible that was visited and ministered to by God himself. You may have already heard of her. She was the maidservant of Abraham’s wife Sarah who was Sarah’s back-up plan when she was tired of waiting to conceive according to God’s promise. She told Abraham to sleep with Hagar and Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. Then, when God’s promise was fulfilled and Sarah miraculously gave birth to Isaac in her old age, she was jealous and told Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son…”

Go ahead and read the account of what happens in Genesis 21:1-19. God reassured Abraham not to be distressed about the boy because He would make the son of his maidservant into a great nation also. I’m sure at the time, Hagar didn’t feel like she was walking in the great promises of God. She wandered out into the desert of Beersheba, the same desert Ahab went through! When the water ran out, she was so hopeless that she put the boy under the bushes and left him to die. Hmm… this sounds familiar! What happens next is what we need to remember in the times we feel hopeless and alone, at the end of ourselves, and on an island of suffering:

“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. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.’

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.’”

God opened her eyes to see His provision. I wonder if the well was there the whole time and she didn’t see it because she was so distraught. Whatever the details were in this miracle, we can’t ignore the takeaways: God heard the boy crying, He called Hagar by name, and directed her toward both sustenance and her future. This is consistent with what God did for Elijah! And, guess what? It’s consistent with what I’ve seen God do in my life. This is who God is. That’s why these passages are here in the Word of God! He wants us to have a glimpse of His character and the way He works.

So, if you’re at the end of your rope today and you’ve had enough. Do not fear. Look up! Heighten your senses to be alert to a supernatural touch from God. It’ll probably look different than Hagar’s and Ahab’s. That’s ok. You are you and God knows your unique needs and longings. In His time, He reveals Himself, strengthens, provides, and gives direction. He pursues us. If you keep reading about Ahab, you’ll see that God also revealed how He speaks to us. It’s in a whisper. You have to be close enough to hear Him. 

Don’t close that book you have open right now. That is your tangible tool to hear from God. He still works miracles, but the best way to get to know Him is to be in His Word daily. Write down a truth that you notice and keep it in your pocket, turn on some worship music and listen for Him, take walks in nature and look for Him. Shoot, you could even take a walk in the desert and sit under a tree if you want! The point is, our Heavenly Father sees and knows. He loves you and there will be an end to your suffering. Dare to take one day at a time in the hope that this is true and don’t be afraid to be honest with Him. He already knows what you’re thinking.

Then, make sure to comment and tell me how you see Him show up!