Oasis

Nobody likes to be thirsty. No one likes to be hot. With these two things, I'm not just talking about physically. I'm talking about emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. So many times in life we thirst after things that aren't good for us. We get in sticky situations, so we get hot and uncomfortable. Ever heard of the story of Hagar and Ismael? Well if you haven't, let me give you a simple summary. Hagar was Sarah's maidservant. Sarah couldn't conceive children, so she made Abraham go with Hagar and she gave birth to a son named Ishmael. Well years later, Sarah finally gives birth to Isaac and fufills His promises to her. One day, Ishmael is mocking Isaac and Sarah gets mad and tells Abraham that he has to send Ishmael and Hagar away. Can you imagine that pain of knowing you're never going to see your own son again? Well, that's exactly what Abraham did and God instructed him to listen to Sarah. While I was reading this story (it's in Genesis 21 by the way if you wanna read it yourselves), I kept on thinking how unfair it was for Hagar and Ishmael. You see, God is so sovereign. Sometimes in life, we are treated so unfairly and unjustly, yet God is working something out to our greater plan. We just don't know it yet. Back to the story though. When Ishmael and Hagar were sent out, they came to a point where death was upon them. Literally the Scripture says that Hagar went and put her son under a bush and went across the way, but far enough way that way she couldn't see him die. Can you even imagine the despair? The grief? Whew. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it and I don't have children yet. Well it says in Genesis 21: 17 that God heard the lad crying. He sent an angel and came down and told Hagar to lift up her eyes and see and grab hold of her sons hand and there was a well that God provided. I know you might be thinking okay..awesome a well. But don't you see? When we are down and are at our lowest of lows, Jesus grabs our hands, tells us to look up, and gives us Him. Our one and only oasis. So many times in life, we are in the desert (hypothetically). We are in an area of life that's uncomfortable. We don't see how we are going to make it through or what we are going to do. We are thirsting for more and better than what this life has to offer us. It's when we are in these times and feel like we aren't going to make it through that when we look up Jesus has provided Him. You see, through Jesus we will thirst no longer. We wont want what this world has to offer us. We will have the true thing that matters.


Here's some photos from a recent shoot of mine :)