When Children Cry
15And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. 17And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. 20And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.”
Genesis 21:15-20
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Youth Emphasis Sunday
Olivia Carter used the following scriptures to frame her presentation. She did an excellent job referencing the effects of the pandemic and the assurances she derived from her faith.
- Psalm 118:24 - This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.
- Proverbs 18:10 - The name of the Lord is a strong tower: The righteous runs to it, and is safe.
- 1 Peter 5:7 - Casting your cares on him because he cares for you.
Consider how the above scriptures resonate with you.
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15And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. 17And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. 20And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.” Genesis 21:15-20
This passage in Genesis, the first book of the bible, has an arresting pericope about a child. His name is Ishmael. The name Ishmael means, "God hears." Ishmael the child left under a bush to die in the wilderness cries out and God hears him. Ishmael was the son of Abraham, born of Hagar, the slave of Abraham’s wife. They are now cast out with a loaf of bread and a skin of water to wander in the desert. The water has all gone, and Hagar, saying that she could not bear to look at her son as he dies, "cast him under a bush" and watched from a distance, (Genesis 22:15-16). Actually, according to the literal record, she said prayerfully, "Do not let me look on the death of the child." God hears the cry of Ishmael and opens the eyes of his mother so that she sees that there is water nearby and they live. The boy and his mother were placed in their predicament.
This passage in Genesis is about a child whose life was in jeopardy. The water was depleted, and Ishmael sank, exhausted from fatigue and thirst. His mother laid his head under one of the bushes to smell the damp ground, while she herself, unable to witness his distress, sat down at a little distance in hopeless sorrow. The water supply was spent. How often is it that what we need most to survive is exhausted? Water is necessary to survive. In Genesis 21:17, God heard the voice of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. God said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.”
The voice of the angel continues in Genesis 21:18-21, “Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him." Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Consider what it means that children cry when their lives are threatened.
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17And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Genesis 21:17
I. We are told that God heard the voice of the lad. The voice God heard was that of the lad. He had pity on the anguish and gave ear to the cry of the child. Once more we have a play upon the name of Ishmael with its meaning of “God hears.” Genesis 16:11
God heard the voice of the lad. Whether it was in prayer to God or through the distress and misery he was experiencing is not certain. However, it was his cries that came up into the ears of the Lord and God had compassion on him, and supplied his wants, and delivered him out of his miserable condition.
God cares for those whose lives are in disarray, dislocated, and distressed. God hears the voice of the lad, who is suffering due to the lack of what he needs to survive, water.
Listen to the voices of the children crying. Just like the cry of the lad arrested the attention of the Lord, our attention should be arrested with the cries of the children.
Consider what it means to respond to children crying due to circumstances beyond their control.
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18Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. 20And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.” Genesis 21:18-20
This is our challenge: To be able to practice such empathy, such finely tuned listening skills, such attentiveness to others and their needs that we might be able to hear even the cry that is silent, and to respond to others not as we wish to see them, but as they truly are. What a critical skill and how difficult to put into practice.
All around us, in our personal lives, in our society and throughout our world, we see the results of our inability to hear the cries of the helpless, vulnerable children of all ages. Nations fight battles and seemingly endless wars, while being unable to understand the claim or needs of others, particularly those who are helpless, weak, and vulnerable as victims of circumstances. Governments like our own find themselves locked in a seemingly insurmountable gridlock, in part because our elected officials have become experts at talking and not hearing. They forget that one of the greatest tasks of governance and diplomacy is the sacred art of listening, the ability to hear the other person as he or she is, not as we wish he or she was, or as he or she might be in our worst fears.
People who care deeply for one another – husbands and wives, devoted partners, parents and children, teachers and students, dear friends, co-workers, and even mere acquaintances – are often locked in an endless cycle of misunderstanding and self-fulfilling prophecies because we forget the simple magic of listening deeply to one another and hearing the other person. Instead, we often think we know the other, we know what he will say, we know what she is thinking, we have her figured out, we believe we know how the story ends.
Consider how compassion and empathy listen and respond to the cries of the weak and vulnerable.
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18Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. Genesis 21:18
II. God had heard the voice of the lad and spoke to the mother, Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand — God’s readiness to help us when we are in trouble must not slacken, but quicken our endeavors to help ourselves. God repeats the promise concerning Ishmael, that he should be a great nation, as a reason why she should bestir herself to help him.
And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, “What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.” This was for the sake of the promise God made to Abraham; but not because the child had discretion and judgment to pray.
And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and allays her anxiety with words of encouragement and direction. "Hold thy hand upon him." Lay thy hand firmly upon him. The former promise given in Genesis 16:10 is renewed to her.
The organization's stated purpose is “to ensure every child a healthy start, a head start, a fair start, a safe start, and a moral start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.”
Consider what it means to arise and lift up the people who are crying by holding them and assuring them that they can make it.
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19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. Genesis 21:19.
III. She saw a well of water — It seems that it was near at hand but had not been observed by her before this moment. Thus, she obtained the relief she most wanted.
God also opened her eyes that she saw a well of water, from which the bottle is replenished, and she and the lad proceed further on their journey. It is unnecessary to determine how far this opening of the eyes was miraculous. It may refer to the cheering of her mind and the sharpening of her attention. In Scripture, the natural and supernatural are not always set over against each other as with us. All events are alike and ascribed to an ever-watchful Providence, whether they flow from the ordinary laws of nature or some higher law of the divine will.
God in his gracious love is able to hear the hopeless who are cast out of the covenant community, out of the family of God as we understand it. They are not beyond his hearing and his care. He may, indeed he does have a special place for those whom he has called to be a particular people of God, but that does not mean that he will not bless others as well.
In distress, God graciously appeared for their relief: he heard the voice of the lad, v. 17. We don’t read the words that he said; but his sighs, groans, and calamitous state, cried aloud in the ears of mercy.
Consider what it means to have the Lord open your eyes to see the resource/s you need to survive.
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20And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.” Genesis 21:20
Conclusion
God comforts, reassures, and directs Hagar to what she needs by opening her eyes which were swollen and blinded with weeping so she could see what was available. Then she saw a well of water. Many that have reason enough to be comforted go mourning from day to day because they do not see the reason they have for comfort. There is a well of water by them in the covenant of grace, but they are not aware of it; they don’t have the benefit of it, till the same God that opened their eyes to see their wound, opens them to see their remedy. After helping Hagar to see what was available to her, she was convinced that God was with the lad and that he would grow into what God had intended.
Consider what it means to be convinced that God is with you due to the promise God has made; so that you can grow and become what God intended for you.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk, till traveling days are done.
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Los Angeles, CA 90011
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