Hagar’s Love – Represented to love and compassion
Genesis 21:16-20
[16] And 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.
[17] And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called 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.
[18] Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
[19] And 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.
[20] And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
Sarah told Abraham to cast out Hagar and the lad. Abraham was feeling very grievous, but followed the instruction of God to hearken to those words and obey what he was told. She (Hagar) first put the child in the shrubs. Hagar then cried out and wept on behalf of the child.
She cried even though they were both cast out on the behalf of another. There are not always going to be perfect situations where you will have the perfect church and perfect pastor and perfect congregation who will always be there for your every need. You might even feel cast out, but you can still come to God!
This is truly a sign of a mother’s love and something the church should begin to learn to inherit. We can learn so much from putting ourselves out of the way and having compassion on the behalf of others, even if we spend out all the energy that we have sometimes!
As we read on, try to remember the Love of a mother as the Love of the Mother Church!
Moses’s Mother – Demonstrated Love Through Obedience
Exodus 2:2-10
[2] And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
[3] And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.
[4] And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
[5] And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
[6] And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.
[7] Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
[8] And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.
[9] And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
[10] And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
She was going against what was spoken by Pharaoh because she saw he was a Godly child! How many of us would be brave enough to do that? How many of us would allow ourselves to be obedient in that situation?!? How many of us would allow ourselves to go against the word of something of higher authority than us?
Are we willing to step out and stand in the gap for those that we care about and face a little or a lot of persecution? It’s scarce to find anymore, but I know that it’s out there if you allow the love in you to grow!
That love looks beyond the battles and is willing to face some consequences from the spiritual battles! Willing to pay the price!
Rizpah’s Love – Representative to sorrow, burdens, and remembrance
2 Samuel 21:6-10
[6] Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
[7] But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
[8] But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
[9] And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
[10] And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
Rizpah lost two of her own sons and five that she was looking after, yet in the memorial she made upon the rock with sackcloth, it moved David. She suffered not anything to stand upon what she had set in their remembrance.
We do not need to forget those out there that are suffering greatly and are spiritually dead today. We need not suffer any enemy or devil that would try and come to destroy them unaware!
That’s what standing in the gap is all about! When we begin to call out on God for them, we need not suffer anything that they speak to you that would hinder your faith! Be understanding to their needs, of course, but begin to speak those things that are not as though they are! That is the true power of God!
The Mother of Solomon’s Time
1 Kings 3:16-27
[16] Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
[17] And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
[18] And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
[19] And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
[20] And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
[21] And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
[22] And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.
[23] Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
[24] And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
[25] And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
[26] Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
[27] Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
A person that would be willing to take a loss for themselves so that others could live is a person walking in love. That’s huge in the Church. Huge. We can’t get anyone to pay the price anymore unless it is conditional to their favor. That’s sad in the world we live in, considering how many people need us to perform so many selfless things!
Surely the Lord was trying to show them and even today about paying a price for our loved ones even if we do not get repaid, recompensed or loved back!
Consider Christ’s Love! Remember the love that was shown to you when you didn’t deserve it! Let it remind you every day when you do things even when you exceed all your energy and resources!