There shall be showers of blessing:
  This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
  Sent from the Savior above.

 Showers of blessing,
  Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
    But for the showers we plead.

How many times have we impatiently jumped in to humanly correct a problem that our Sovereign God has already promised to solve?  What are we thinking?  Do we think that our idea would save God time and move His work along a bit faster?  Maybe we even rationalized that our way is what God wanted all along?  Is this what prompts our arrogant prayers at times with the plea, “Lord, bless our plans;” instead of the humble prayer of, “Lord, what is your plan?”

We must learn to stick to the prayer Jesus taught us to pray believing that God will answer for our good and His glory.  We must pray to God, The Father with honest, sincere, patient hearts and plead, “May your will be done, in your time, in your way.”  Showers of blessings that our Father wants to pour out over us are derailed or postponed at times by our impatient self-will. Impatient living affects everyone around us.  Oh Lord, help us all, In Jesus Name, Amen.

There shall be showers of blessing—
  Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
  Sound of abundance of rain.

Showers of blessing,
  Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
    But for the showers we plead.

Not too long ago, Abram was assured and reminded by God that He would bless him with offspring.  (Genesis 15) But the aging Abram and Sarai faltered in their faith and just couldn’t see how, so they came up with a plan…a human plan.

Genesis 16

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; ² so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³ So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

⁶ “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

⁷ The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

⁹ Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰ The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

¹¹ The angel of the Lord also said to her:

“You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.
¹² He will be a wild donkey of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
    toward all his brothers.”

¹³ She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” ¹⁴ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

There shall be showers of blessing;
  Send them upon us, O Lord!
Grant to us now a refreshing;
  Come, and now honor Thy Word.

Showers of blessing,
  Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
    But for the showers we plead.

In this story of God, God reveals His love and compassion to Hagar, who was used and abused by Sarai who she served with obedience.  Note that God sought her out and found her.  He saw her hurt and misery and gave her what no one else did—love, attention, and care with a way forward.  This Egyptian, who knew nothing of God except through Abram and Sarai, know knew God for herself— “I have now seen the One who sees me.”  God comes to all who call out for mercy. 

There shall be showers of blessing;
  O that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
  Now as on Jesus we call!

Showers of blessing,
  Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
    But for the showers we plead.

God gives purpose with a plan for Hagar who has run away.  “Where do you come from and where are you going?” Did that hit your heart?  It did mine.  What a God we have that helps us see the fruitlessness our plan that is no plan at all that can save us!  God gives direction to Hagar that won’t be easy but doable with His help.  “Go back to Sarai and submit to her.”  Wow, go back where the abuse began?  God, there must be a better way!  But Hagar did what “the God who sees her” said to do for she now has a relationship with God.  He is the God who saved her. God changes everything in Hagar.

God rescues those who are caught up in the human, sinful plans of others.  Then God steps in to correct and redirect His humans back to His perfect plan.  God loves us that much! God is unfailing even when we fail Him.  God’s love is unchanging even though we change our minds about how we love Him back.  God is faithful—always—even when we are not.  Our God is amazing!  To God be the glory! 

Abram and Sarai lost patience with God and decided to do life on their own for a time. We learn that life didn’t’ go well for them and all those around them. Peace alluded the household.  The relationship between Abram and Sarai was tense and intense.

But then God stepped in to do what He does best—He made a way through it all.  God displays His perfect patience and delivers what He promises no matter what humans try to do to derail His Plan.  The blessing over Abram is fulfilled.  Stay tuned…there’s more!

There shall be showers of blessing,
  If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
  If we let God have His way.

Lord,

Forgive us our sins of impatience that lead to bad behaviors that are not of you. Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your tender new mercies daily, and restore the joy of your salvation at work within us to be and do all that pleases you.  I believe for you have seen me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Showers of blessing,
  Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
    But for the showers we plead.