And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
The context of this passage includes,
Genesis 16:6-10 (KJV)
But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Abraham gave Sarah permission to treat Hagar as roughly as she pleased. When Hagar fled away, God instructed her to return and to submit. Often a submissive spirit will at least calm and reduce rough treatment.
It wasn’t God’s design to make life easy. God has a plan for humanity that can be very difficult at times but has an eventual outcome that is glorious beyond description. In some regard we can divide the world into two groups:
- Those who demand immediate gratification
- Those who by faith wait for eternal glory
I get a bit concerned about the faith of those who claim to be Christians but have no patience for the eternal.
God uses people to bring about His will in our lives. Some of those people bless us with their kindness. Others bless us with their roughness. If it were not for course and rough things, including course and rough people, there would be no material with which to rub the world off of us.
Of course, the Bible doesn’t have good things to say about the end of those who choose to be course and rough,
Matthew 18:7 (KJV)
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
It would be best to praise the Lord for those rough and course people in your life. They serve a purpose. At the same time, be diligent NOT to BE one of them.
To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.
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