So, most gratefully, my wife and I have entered the grandparent stage of life. I know, I know, we don’t look old enough for that. One of the joys of this season is finding ourselves watching and re-watching programs and movies like Bluey and Finding Nemo. The animation is wonderful, the storytelling is sweet, and perhaps most importantly, it can hold the attention of a three-year-old. Yet beneath the humor and adventure, these stories often reveal something deeply human. Bluey and Nemo find themselves in situations that create concern, worry, and uncertainty. Did they make choices that contributed to those situations? Perhaps. But that’s not really the point. The point is they find themselves in circumstances that feel bigger than they are, and they are unsure how to move forward. If we take those childhood fears and multiply them to an adult level, we find ourselves in familiar territory. Many of us have made decisions that have contributed to seasons of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. Sometimes the consequences are small. Sometimes, let’s be honest, they feel (and can be) life-altering.
We’ve all been there. We’ve experienced those moments of concern, worry, and fear. How do I know this about you? Because we’re all human. Anxiety is not a modern invention, nor is uncertainty unique to our generation. God’s people have wrestled with these realities for centuries. Consider this story from Genesis:
The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 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.
—Genesis 21:8-211
This passage is emotionally rich because it begins with rejection, fear, and apparent abandonment, but it ends with a God who sees, hears, provides, and remains present. Hagar believed she had reached the end of the road. The water was gone. The future looked hopeless. Yet at the very moment she thought all was lost, God intervened. Notice that God did not abandon her in the wilderness. Instead, He opened her eyes to a well that was already there. The wilderness is often the place where God opens our eyes to the provision that was there all along. Hagar’s story reminds us that God’s presence is not absent in our hardest moments. Sometimes the well is already nearby; we simply need God to open our eyes to see it.
Jesus echoes this same hope when He says in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus does not deny the reality of trouble. He promises peace in the midst of it. When all seems lost, God reveals that He has not forgotten us and that provision may be closer than we realize.
There is a beautiful parallel in Finding Nemo. Nemo often feels alone, separated, and vulnerable. Yet we, the audience, know something Nemo does not: his father is crossing the ocean to find him. Nemo believes he is alone because he cannot see his father. But his father has never stopped pursuing him. In much the same way, Bluey may encounter situations that seem overwhelming, yet her parents are always nearby, guiding, helping, and caring for her. Hagar could not see God in the wilderness, but heaven had not lost track of her son. What felt like abandonment was actually a moment in which God was preparing to reveal His faithfulness.
So listen for the Father’s voice today. Follow that still, small voice. He has provision for you, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. He has not forgotten you. He has a plan for your life, even if the path before you seems uncertain. Not sure how to hear the voice of God? Call out to Him. Tell Him you would like to know more about His son, Jesus Christ. The Father is longing to hear from you.
May God open your eyes to the well He has already provided, strengthen your heart for the journey, and remind you that even in the wilderness, you are never beyond His care.
O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—Book of Common Prayer2
Luke Gambill 