The Door Of Hope

Our lives are often marked by twists and turns, unexpected events, and important moments of decision. Will we say yes or no? Will we turn to the right or the left? Do we have a choice or have we found ourselves at a dead-end or brick wall?

The Bible is full of stories of women who encountered unexpected events, faced their own dead-end or brick wall moments, and discovered amid this place of despair that God had, in fact, provided a way through. God gave each of them a door by which they could walk from despair to hope, from shame to acceptance, and from isolation to community.

Today, as you face an unexpected event of your own – an unintended pregnancy – you too may be feeling a wave of emotions and a heightened sense of insecurity. What should you do? How will your life change? This reading plan is designed with you in mind. Like the women in the Bible, God too wants to provide a door for you to walk through...a door that leads to hope, acceptance, and communion.

From Despair to Hope: Hagar’s Story

In Genesis 16 we encounter a young woman faced with her own unexpected pregnancy. Thrust from her home and the life she once knew, Hagar is now pregnant, abandoned, and in despair. There seems to be no way forward for Hagar -- no way she can return to her past life and no way she can build a future life for herself.

Awash with despair, Hagar runs into the desert and falls beside a spring of water. There, in the middle of grief and hopelessness, Hagar encounters the Lord. He asks her to share her plight with Him … to pour out her emotions, fears, and desperate needs. And the Lord sees her – in all her fear and brokenness – and gives Hagar promises related to her future and her child’s future. The One who gives breath to Hagar’s lungs and life to the child in her womb, the Creator God, sees her and hears her and offers her a new future.

Many years later, when the child had grown, Hagar once again found herself on the run and desperate (see Gen 21). And yet again, the Lord met her in the desert, asked her to share her fears and concerns with Him, and affirmed His promises regarding her and her son’s future.

Each time, God saw Hagar and heard her. In the wilderness of despair, God gave her hope for the future. This is why Hagar fondly names God, “the God who sees me.”

God promises a similar thing to His people in Hosea 2, and He makes this same promise to all who turn to God in prayer and desperation. When we go astray from God’s good path for our lives and find ourselves in a dark valley of trouble or a wilderness of despair, God finds us in that very place and offers us a door of hope. He offers us a way out to a new future. [[Like Hagar, God invites us to enter into dialogue with Him – pouring out our troubles and confessing any ways that we disobeyed Him and sinned. From this place of repentance, God then invites us into a new relationship with Him.]]

God wants to meet each of us exactly where we are and to make what seems to be impossible possible through a relationship with Himself. As the God who sees all, He is also able to lead us into a future we never thought possible and be with us as we navigate the journey ahead. He can make a door of hope in the wilderness of trouble.

As you read the stories in Genesis and Hosea, how do you hear the Lord speaking to you?

How can you pour out your heart to Him today?

What sins or past behaviors do you need to confess and leave behind to walk into the restored relationship He is offering?

What do you hear God speaking over you in terms of His love and plans for you and your child?