Well, please take your Bibles and open them up to Genesis chapter 16 this morning.
We've been walking through the book of Genesis.
If this is your first time with us or first time with us in a while,
we've come to chapter 16.
And it's a beautiful chapter of God's care for us.
And so when you found it, Genesis chapter 16,
let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word.
If you are physically able, let's stand together.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children.
She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.
And Sarai said to Abram,
Behold, now the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.
Go into my servant.
It may be that I shall obtain children by her.
And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
So after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan,
Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant,
and gave her to Abram, her husband, as a wife.
And he went into Hagar, and she conceived.
And when she saw that she had conceived,
she looked with contempt on her mistress.
And Sarai said to Abram,
May the wrong done to me be on you.
I gave you my servant to your embrace.
And when she saw that she had conceived,
she looked on me with contempt.
May the Lord judge between you and me.
But Abram said to Sarai,
Behold, your servant is in your power.
Do to her as you please.
Then Sarai dealt harshly with her,
and she fled from her.
The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness,
the spring on the way to Shur.
And he said,
Hagar, servant of Sarai,
where have you come from?
Where are you going?
She said,
I am fleeing from my mistress, Sarai.
The angel of the Lord said to her,
Return to your mistress and submit to her.
The angel of the Lord also said to her,
I will surely multiply your offspring,
so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.
And the angel of the Lord said to her,
Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone,
and everyone's hand against him.
And he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.
So she called the name of the Lord,
who spoke to her,
You are a God of seeing.
For she said,
Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.
Therefore the well was called Be'er-le-hi-roi.
It lies between Kadesh and Bered.
And Hagar bore Abram a son,
and Abram called the name of his son,
whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael.
To Abram,
the grass withers and flower fades,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Father, we praise you for this passage,
this testimony of your care for us,
of your sight and your ears open
to those that are weak and discarded.
Lord, we pray that as we open up this text,
would you speak through the preaching of your word.
Give us ears to hear.
We pray in Christ's name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
This morning, I want to deal with a question
that I think we are all prone to ask from time to time,
which is this.
Does God care about me and my trouble?
Does God actually care about me and the issues that I'm going through?
Does God actually care about me in my distress?
And of course, we may know the answer to that intellectually,
but even still, from time to time,
we may not fully believe it.
And the lie that I think we're tempted to believe,
especially in times of trouble,
is that God does not care about me in my distress.
We saw last week with Abram,
that Abram wrestled with this delay over God's promise
to give him an heir,
and that delay, it led to doubt.
Well, this morning, we see that terrible chain of events continue on.
Delay leads to doubt.
Doubt leads to distress,
and distress often leads to really bad decisions.
You all know football is back, right?
Last Saturday was college football,
this week's NFL football.
Football is back in full swing.
It's that time of year.
We're not really much of a football family,
but I do know enough to know this,
that if you want the quarterback to make a mistake,
what do you need to do?
You need to put some pressure on him.
You need to cause him to be in a state of distress.
You need to bring the blitz,
put some pressure on,
and in that case,
if he's under enough distress,
well, maybe you get lucky,
and he will make a bad decision.
Distress often leads to poor decisions,
and of course, we know, don't we?
That little truth extends beyond football
and right into our daily life.
Distress often leads to poor decisions.
Spiritually speaking,
decisions to walk by the flesh
instead of by faith.
Decisions that are driven by a false belief
that God won't care for me,
and so I had better go and take care of myself.
And if you've ever felt this way,
then I have good news for you
from our passage this morning,
and it's this.
In your distress,
God sees you.
God hears you.
God knows you.
God cares for you.
God will do all that he's promised you
in Christ.
Christ.
So let's take a look at our passage this morning,
and what we're going to see
is two scenes of distress here.
Two scenes of distress.
The first is here with Abram and Sarai
in verses 1 through 6,
and then the second scene of distress
is here with Hagar
in the rest of the passage.
And first,
in this first scene with Abram and Sarai,
what we see is our temptation
in times of distress.
We see first,
in our distress,
we may doubt God's care for us.
In our distress,
we are tempted to doubt God's care for us.
This is the temptation that we face,
isn't it?
And when things are going well,
and we don't wrestle with this
quite as often, do we?
When we have what we think we need,
when we're happy,
man, God is good.
But when we don't have what we think we need,
or hear,
as is the case with Abram and Sarai,
when God seems slow
to fulfill His promise,
we can be tempted to think,
well, God doesn't really care about me.
God doesn't really know what I need.
God isn't going to do anything about this.
And so we can be tempted
to take matters into our own hands
and make sure we get what we think we need.
Look there with me to verse 1, chapter 16.
And right away,
we're reminded of the issue
facing Abram and Sarai.
God has promised an offspring to Abram,
that he reassured him last chapter,
chapter 15,
that Eleazar of Damascus
was not going to be the heir.
Rather, an offspring from his own flesh
was going to be his heir.
He promised this to Abram.
He reassures him of this.
He seals that promise with a covenant.
But the problem remains
that from a purely physical standpoint,
from a purely physical perspective,
that promise is not possible, is it?
Verse 1 reminds us,
Sarai, Abram's wife,
had borne him no children.
And we know the reason why
is because she is barren.
She cannot have children physically.
And on top of that,
you see verse 3,
it has been 10 years
since God first called Abram
to go into the land of Canaan.
Just think about that.
10 years is a long time, isn't it?
And my oldest son
is almost 10 years old,
which means it's been
a little over 10 years
since we first saw that pregnancy test
and found out,
oh man, we're having a kid.
Right?
Could you imagine
waiting from that announcement
of a coming child
to 10 years later
and still no child?
That's a long time.
10 years living in Canaan,
still no offspring.
And of course,
over those 10 years,
guess what happened
with Abram and Sarai?
They are now 10 years older,
aren't they?
And they were already
old for childbearing standards.
Right?
Not old.
Old for childbearing standards.
He was 75 years old
when God called him
to the land of Canaan,
which now, quick math,
would mean he is 85 years old.
And by the end of chapter 16,
you look at verse 16,
it says he's now 86 years old
when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
We get these little ticks
on the clock, don't we?
Tick, tick, tick.
These little indicators
that time is passing by.
They're not getting any younger
and still no offspring.
From a purely physical standpoint,
this promise is getting more
and more and more impossible
by the day.
And ask yourself,
why would God do this?
Why would he put Abram
Abram and Sarai
through this excruciating process
of just waiting
and waiting
and waiting?
Ask yourself,
why in the world
would God choose
an old pagan man
and an old pagan wife
and a barren one at that
and then wait
until they're older
to bring about
the promised child?
There can only be one reason.
Do you know what it is?
God wants to make it
absolutely clear
to anyone,
to everyone who will hear of it,
that this child
is the work of God alone
and no one else.
There is no physical way
that this could happen.
God wants to make
absolutely certain
there is no way
that anybody could attribute
this birth to anything
other than a work of God.
God will get the glory.
Here's the point.
God's promises
by design
cannot be achieved
by human effort.
I'll say that again.
By design,
God's promises
cannot be achieved
by human effort.
But unfortunately,
Sarai,
like many of us,
she has to learn this
the hard way,
doesn't she?
She comes up
with this bright idea.
Verse 1 says,
Sarai,
she had no child,
but what did she have?
She had a female servant
whose name was Hagar.
Sarai comes up
with this plan
and says to Abram,
behold,
now the Lord
has prevented me
from bearing children
and so go into my servant
that it may be
that I shall obtain
children by her.
And what does Abram do?
Abram listened
to the voice of Sarai,
his wife.
And so,
after 10 years
of living in Canaan,
Sarai,
Abram's wife,
took Hagar,
her servant,
gave her to Abram.
Abram went into Hagar
and guess what?
She conceives a child.
Do you see this chain
of events happening here?
And clearly,
Sarai is distressed.
Why?
Because she has not yet
received a child.
This thing that she
so desperately wants.
There's been this delay.
She's now 75 years old.
She's 10 years younger
than Abram.
And that maternal instinct
is kicking in full gear.
She wants that baby.
And she knows full well
the promise that God's
made to Abram,
doesn't she?
And she's been waiting
on this too.
She's waiting on the fulfillment
of the promise as well.
But there's this delay.
10 years of waiting.
So that delay
leads to doubt.
Does God really
actually care about me?
Does God
really know
my needs?
Will God
actually do
what He's promised
to do?
Look what she says
in verse 2.
It's subtle.
Look what she says.
The Lord
has prevented me
from bearing
children.
The Lord
has kept
this from me
which
as people who believe
in the sovereignty
of God
in light of God's
sovereignty
she's not wrong
is she?
This is true.
The Lord
has in fact
prevented her
from bearing
children
but
there is a
right way
and a wrong way
to think about
our trials
in light
of God's
sovereignty.
The right way
would sound
something like this.
God is
delaying
His promise.
She's not wrong.
God is delaying
His promise.
God has not
yet permitted
me to have a child.
And the response
of faith
would say
God I trust
you
even though
I wish it
were happening
today.
God I trust
you in your
goodness
and your
complete control
over my
situation.
I trust you
to work this
out according
to your
plan,
your will,
your ways.
That's faith.
The wrong way
is what Sarai
does here.
God has
kept this
from me.
God is
holding out
on me.
God is
withholding
good from
me.
He is
harming
me
by withholding
a good
thing
from me
and I'm
done
waiting
on it.
You see
that lack
of faith
that causes
distress.
So she
makes the
decision
to go
and get
that child
by any
means
necessary.
Take
Hagar
my servant
go have
a child
with her
then I'll
have my
child
you'll
have
your
promise
we'll
all be
happy
right?
Church
how often
do we
make
decisions
in exactly
the same
way?
we see
something
that we
want
and it
seems
even like
something
that maybe
God would
want us
to have
I mean
why shouldn't
I have
a spouse?
Why shouldn't
I have
a child?
Why shouldn't
I have
a job
that pays
well
and makes
the ends
mean?
Why shouldn't
I have
a house
to live
in?
Why shouldn't
I have
this good
blessing
that why
wouldn't
God want
me to
have
this?
And I
want to
be clear
of course
we have
no promise
from God
that any
of us
should have
these things
we have
no promise
like Abram
and Sarai
have here
but the
question is
even so
how do
we respond
when God
doesn't give
us what
we want?
how do
we respond
when God
doesn't give
it when
we want
it?
Are we
willing to
wait on
him by
faith or
do we
just go
out and
get it
by the
flesh by
any means
necessary?
You know
it's interesting
that there
is nothing
wrong with
Sarai's
approach
either culturally
or legally
at the
time.
Sarai's
plan to
go and
hand over
her servant
to her
husband
and get
an heir
by that
way.
That was
totally fine
as far as
cultural standards
go in her
day.
But we
should
recognize
of course
that just
because something
is culturally
and legally
permissible
does not
mean that it
is permissible
in the eyes
of God.
God's
methods
his means
of blessing
are just
as important
if not more
important than
the actual
blessing
itself.
I'll tell you
something you
already know.
Most people
want their
income to
grow.
Amen?
Right?
Am I
wrong about
that?
Many if
not most
women want
their families
to grow.
Most pastors
want their
churches to
grow.
We want
to see
the blessing
but the
point that we
ought to learn
here is that
God's people
they don't just
chase the
blessing any
way that they
can get them
by any means
available.
We are called
to walk by
faith and
obedience to
the Lord
and to follow
his ways
and his
methods
his means
of achieving
blessing
not the
ways of the
world around
us.
Sarai
doubts
God's
care for
her
and so
she takes
matters
into her
own
hands.
But of
course it's
not just
Sarai is
it?
Abram is at
fault here too
isn't he?
Now think about
what Abram's
doing here.
Abram too
he's walking
by flesh
and not by
faith.
And just
think about
how crazy
that is
in light of
what we
saw last
week.
I mean
like five
seconds ago
God just
did this
incredible
display of
reassuring
Abram of
his faithfulness
he walked
through the
slaughtered
carcasses
and promised
Abram
I will do
exactly what
I promised
and here
five seconds
over
Abram
forgets.
He has
this tremendous
lapse of
faith he
goes right
back to the
default settings
and he walks
by the
flesh.
How can I
go get
this blessing
rather than
walking by
faith?
Did you
notice echoes
of Adam
here?
Did you
notice this?
Because you
have listened
to the voice
of your
wife Adam
Abram
just like
Adam
just passively
sits back
and watches
his wife
in distress
walking by
the flesh
and he does
nothing about
it.
Abram
should have
stepped up
and said
something like
Sarai I
know it's
hard
Sarai I
know that
we've been
waiting
Sarai I
know that
you desperately
want a
child
Sarai I
know you're
not getting
any younger
maybe you
shouldn't have
said that
but you're
still beautiful
but we are
not going to
do it this
way
we are
going to
trust in
the promises
of God
by faith
that's what
this family
is going
to do
men
this is what
leadership
looks like
husbands
you are
called
to remind
your wives
often
of God's
care for
you and
your family
that God
knows you
that God
sees you
that God
knows your
needs
that God
is watching
over you
that God
is sovereignly
in control
of you
and your
family
and that
you are
called to
walk by
faith in
him
husbands
you are
called to
lead your
home
in the
joy
and the
freedom
and the
peace
of that
truth
Abram
and Sarai
instead
they go
through this
cycle
delay
leads to
doubt
leads to
distress
leads to
this
decision
to walk
by flesh
and not
by
faith
and look
at the
result
actually
initial returns
are pretty
good
aren't
they
the plan
works
Hagar
gets
pregnant
and then
they all
live happily
ever after
right
wrong
this starts
to look
like a
soap opera
doesn't
it
everything
starts
to blow
up
everything
starts
to crumble
apart
everybody's
coming
after
everybody
verse
four
when
Hagar
saw
she had
conceived
she's
hating
on
Sarai
verse
five
Sarai
is
blaming
Abram
verse
six
Abram
just
passively
kicks
it
back
to
Sarai
you
deal
with
it
everything
is
broken
everything
is
falling
apart
you
see
the
issue
don't
you
worldly
ways
lead
to
worldly
problems
the
ways
of the
flesh
get
you
the
problems
of
the
flesh
solutions
in
the
flesh
lead
to
more
problems
in
the
flesh
doubting
God's
care
for
us
always
ends
in
disaster
and I
just
wish
we
could
learn
this
lesson
but
like
Abram
we
are
so
quick
to
forget
aren't
we
might
get
it
for
like
five
seconds
maybe
we
read
our
Bibles
we
pray
we
come
to
church
we're
reminded
yes
God
is
faithful
yes
God
is
good
yes
God
knows
yes
God
cares
yes
God
sees
and
then
Bible
shut
walk
out
the
door
we
go
out
it's
Monday
morning
we
haven't
had
our
coffee
yet
and
right
away
we're
back to
our
default
settings
aren't
we
we're
thinking
in the
flesh
let this
be a
reminder
for us
church
when we
make
plans
in the
flesh
be
careful
because
they
might
just
work
out
Sarai
got
her
child
but as
we'll
see
all she
did
was trade
one
kind
of
heart
for
another
didn't
she
it is
not
easy
waiting
on
the
Lord
is
it
is
not
easy
trusting
him
by
faith
but
man
she
got
some
hard
stuff
coming
with
Ishmael
so we
see
in our
distress
we
sometimes
are
tempted
to
doubt
God's
care
for
us
but
thankfully
!
second
point
this
morning
in this
second
scene
of
distress
we see
the
good
news
second
in
our
distress
God
demonstrates
his
care
for
us
Sarai
and
Abram
were
distressed
because
they
didn't
have
a
child
yet
but
now
Hagar
is
distressed
because
of
Sarai
Hagar
is
collateral
in this
battle
here
she
caught
some
friendly
fire
Sarai
is
harsh
with
her
she
has
been
used
as
a
means
to
somebody
else
is
in
she
is
treated
poorly
and
so
she
flees
she
gets
out
of
there
she
runs
away
and
nobody
there
wants
me
and
nobody
there
is
for
me
nobody
there
loves
me
nobody
there
sees
me
hears
me
cares
for
me
verse
seven
tells
us
there
is
someone
who
sees
her
the
angel
of the
Lord
found
her
by a
spring
of
water
in
the
wilderness
spring
on
the way
to shore
this is the
first time
that we've
seen
the
angel
of the
Lord
and we
will
see him
again
but I think
it's worth
asking at
this point
who in the
world
is this
because it
seems like it is
more than just an
ordinary
angel
are
created
beings
they're
servants
of the
Lord
Hebrews
says
that
they're
ministering
spirits
sent out
for the
sake of
those
who are
to
inherit
salvation
but
this
particular
being
the
angel
of the
Lord
he
carries
a little
bit
more
weight
a little
bit
more
significance
than
just
an
ordinary
angel
doesn't
he
if you
look
it's
clear
that
the
angel
of
the
Lord
is
the
!
speaking
to
Hagar
verse
8
says
the
angel
of
the
Lord
speaks
to
her
verse
9
he
speaks
to
her
verse
10
he
speaks
to
her
verse
11
he
speaks
to
her
but
then
look
at
verse
13
who
did she
say
spoke
to
her
says
the
Lord
spoke
to
her
very
interesting
isn't
it
and
in
verse
13
as
Hagar
sees
the
angel
of
the
Lord
she
doesn't
say
that
she
saw
God's
angel
what
does
she
say
I
have
seen
him
who
looks
after
me
I've
seen
the
Lord
later
on
we'll
see
that
the
angel
of
the
Lord
he
carries
the
same
authority
as
the
Lord
himself
he
speaks
and
he
stops
Abram
from
sacrificing
Isaac
chapter
22
the
angel
of
the
Lord
appears
to
Moses
in
the
burning
bush
and
speaks
and
commissions
Moses
who
is
he
the
Bible
doesn't
exactly
say
but
I think
does
say
enough
to
lead
me
to
believe
that
this
is
a
visible
physical
manifestation
of
God
himself
this
is
the
Lord
other
people
who are
smarter
than me
go a
step
further
than
that
and
say
well
this
is
the
second
person
of
the
Trinity
this
is
the
son
of
God
incarnate
this
is
the
pre
incarnate
Christ
here
appearing
I
won't
go
that
far
people
smarter
than
me
do
people
like
John
Calvin
people
like
Treg
Hallman
would
make
that
argument
what we
can say
I think
with
certainty
is that
this
is a
visible
manifestation
of the
Lord
what we
call a
theopany
God
shows
up
here
in
Hagar's
moment
of need
God
shows
up
and
look at
what he
does
three
things
he
does
he
pursues
he
prescribes
and he
promises
the
Lord
himself
pursues
a
castaway
think about
that
God
almighty
sovereign
king
of the
universe
ruler
of heaven
and earth
creator
of all
things
God
who is
transcendent
and above
all
and greater
than all
stoops
down
to pursue
a servant
who is
Hagar
that the
Lord should
think of
her
and come
to her
and speak
to her
and condescend
to her
and appear
to her
in a way
that can be
touched
and seen
and heard
and understood
who is
Hagar
Hagar's
cast off
she's
rejected
she was
hated
she was
used
and tossed
out
with the
garbage
what
obligation
does the
Lord have
to speak
with her
none
she's not
going to
be the
mother
of the
line
of
promise
and yet
God
goes out
of the
way
to pursue
her
he seeks
her out
personally
individually
and church
we are
seeing God's
heart on
display here
in this
passage
some people
try to make
this divide
between the
God of the
Old Testament
he's so angry
and mean
and cruel
and then
Jesus comes
and he makes
up for it
in the New
Testament
man have
they never
read this
passage
God's
love
for the
weak
and the
broken
and the
hurting
and the
discarded
is on
display
here
God
comes to
a rejected
woman
in the
desert
and he
stoops
down low
to speak
to her
he seeks
her out
much like
he did
with Adam
and Eve
in the
garden
as they
hid
themselves
Adam
where
are
you
so here
with Hagar
who's a
victim
not of her
own sin
but of
somebody
else's
sin
here he
seeks
her out
Hagar
servant
of Sarai
where
have
you
come
from
where
are
you
going
and she
answers
honestly
I'm
running
away
from my
mistress
Sarai
and so
the Lord
prescribes
her
a task
he gives
her a
command
here
verse 9
the angel
of the Lord
commands her
said to her
go
back
return to
your mistress
and submit
to her
I know
what happened
Hagar
but I'm
commanding you
to go
back
and not
with an
attitude
either
I'm
commanding
you
to go
back
and to
submit
to the
one
who
was
harsh
with
you
love
your
enemies
how
hard
is
this
but then
he makes
her
a promise
and one
that sounds
I think
remarkably
similar
to the
one
that he
promised
to
Abram
although
they're
not
the
same
promise
verse 10
I will
surely
multiply
your
offspring
so that
they cannot
be numbered
for multitude
and the
angel of
the Lord
said to
her
behold
you are
pregnant
and shall
bear a
son
you shall
call his
name
Ishmael
because the
Lord has
listened
to your
affliction
and he
he promises
the future
of Ishmael
in verse 12
he'll be a
wild donkey
of a man
how's that
for a
description
his hand
against
everyone
everyone's
hand against
him
this is
going to
be a
contentious
child
this is
going to
be an
issue
this child
of the
flesh
will prove
to be a
problem
for the
children
of promise
down the
road
he's a
fighter
don't miss
the point
the Lord
came
and pursued
and appeared
to a
a broken
discarded
castaway
he pursued
her
specifically
directly
individually
personally
and the
significance
and the
significance
of all
of this
is made
clear
in the
names
given
here
in the
passage
isn't it
Ishmael
God
hears
Hagar
assigns a
name to
the Lord
God
who
sees
me
Hagar
marks
the
location
she names
the well
of the
living one
who
sees
me
the
point
is obvious
isn't it
and it's
the point
that Abram
and Sarai
failed to
understand
in my
distress
God
does
see
God
does
hear
God
does
care
God
does
know
your pain
and your
struggle
you don't
have to put
yourself in
the place
of God
to bring
about his
promises
by your
own effort
you can't
do it
trust
the one
who sees
you
trust
the one
who knows
you
personally
individually
directly
trust
the one
who cares
for you
ask
yourself
though
why would
God
send
Hagar
back
what's
the point
and why
would he
send her
back
look there
to verse
15
I love
this
verse
15
says
Hagar
bore
!
Abram
a son
and
Abram
called
the name
of his
son
whom
Hagar
bore
Ishmael
did you
catch that?
Who named
the child?
Abram
called the
name of
his son
Ishmael
which means
that
Hagar
clearly
obeyed
the Lord
she
returned
to Sarai
she returned
to Abram
and clearly
she reported
all that
had happened
to Abram
and now
guess what
Abram
and Sarai
have a
living
breathing
soon to
be walking
rebuke
and reminder
of the fact
that God
does in fact
see
and hear
every time
Abram
would call
his name
Ishmael
they would be
reminded
God
hears
God
sees
you
don't we need
the same
reminder
church
in our
distress
we can
easily
believe
the lie
that God
doesn't
care
about
you
God
doesn't
see
your
circumstance
God
doesn't
hear
your
prayers
they don't
seem
to be
working
God
doesn't
know
what
you
need
God
doesn't
care
for
you
the
Lord
we're
reminded
here
church
loves
the
outcast
loves
the
hated
loves
the
forgotten
loves
the
overlooked
loves
the
orphan
loves
the
widow
loves
the
weak
and the
broken
he
sees
and cares
for those
who feel
alone
and unseen
by the
world
around
them
he
sees
and he
loves
those
for whom
the
world
has
no
more
use
God
loves
them
God
sees
them
God
hears
them
moms
at
home
with
nobody
near
you
but
babies
tired
and
worn
out
God
sees
you
spouses
struggling
in your
marriage
feeling
misunderstood
feeling
unloved
by your
spouse
God
sees
you
employees
worn
out
at work
feeling
overworked
and tired
and under
appreciated
feeling
like nobody
understands
the struggle
that you
go through
weekend
and week
out
just to
make
ends
meet
God
sees
you
widows
at home
lonely
feeling
unloved
you are
not alone
God
sees
you
Christian
with hopes
deferred
good things
withheld
waiting
on promises
not yet
fulfilled
God
sees
you
non-believer
running
from
the
Lord
God
sees
you
God
hears
you
Abram
would be
reminded
of this
every time
he called
the name
of his
son
Ishmael
but church
don't we
have another
greater
reminder
than this
by an even
greater
name
if ever
we are
tempted
to doubt
God's
care
for us
look
to Christ
and remember
God
sees
you
should
our
distress
ever
lead us
to doubt
God's
care
for us
look
to the
supreme
demonstration
of the
faithfulness
of God
in sending
his own
son
Jesus
to fulfill
all the
promises
of God
what did
Jesus
come to
do
Jesus
came to
pursue
to seek
and to
save
the
lost
and to
command
us
to
repent
of our
sin
and put
our
faith
in him
and then
to
promise
us
eternal
life
for any
who would
come to
him
by faith
when we're
tempted
to walk
in the
flesh
and not
by faith
remember
Jesus
Christ
shows us
God's
faithfulness
and his
love for
the
broken
Jesus
Christ
stepped
down
into
our
pain
does
God
care
about
my
pain
Jesus
took on
our
weakness
and our
frailty
Jesus
was
rejected
and
hated
and
spat
on
and
mocked
and
hung
on
a
cross
to
die
so
that
we
by
faith
in
him
would
live
Jesus
was
rejected
and
hated
by
men
so
that
we
by
faith
might
be
accepted
and
beloved
by
God
Jesus
Christ
is
the
greatest
display
of
God's
care
for
us
and
if
you
are
in
him
by
faith
then
Christian
take
heart
in
every
trial
in
every
distress
in
every
painstaking
moment
of
waiting
on
him
God
knows
you
in
Christ
God
sees
you
in
Christ
God
hears
you
in
Christ
God
loves
you
in
Christ
and
God
cares
for
you
in
Christ
Father
we
praise
you
for
the
good
news
that
you
are
a
God
who
sees
us
Lord
we
are
so
unworthy
of
your
care
for
us
but
Lord
you
have
pursued
us
in
Christ
we
praise
you
for
the
good
news
of
the
gospel
that
Jesus
has
come
to
seek
and
to
save
the
lost
to
pursue
!
those
who
are
broken
and
cast
away
Lord
those
who
are
far
from
!
Lord
we
pray
Father
that
we
would
rest
in
your
love
and
your
care
for
us
that
we
would
not
walk
by
the
flesh
but
would
walk
by
faith
in
all
of
your
promises
we
pray
in
Jesus
name
amen