There is a Well For You

Genesis 21:13-21 NKJV  Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”  (14)  So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.  (15)  And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.  (16)  Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.  (17)  And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.  (18)  Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”  (19)  Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.  (20)  So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.  (21)  He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 

Good morning church! 

• For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Pastor Christian Shields, and I am the senior Pastor here at Christian Life Church. 

• This is what we do here, we preach through Scripture, and God has us currently going through the book of Genesis. 

• For the past few weeks we have been talking about Promises. 

• We have talked about focusing on our promises instead of our problems… 

• When Abraham feared for his life in front of Abimelech and feared for his wife… he forgot the promises of God and instead focused on the problem. 

• Our Associate Pastor, Pastor Jared, then preached on how God always keeps His promises. 

• Examining the miraculous birth of the promised child Isaac. 

• Then last week we talked about being children of freedom, children of the promise. 

• We compared and contrasted the child of bondage, Ishmael, with the child of freedom, Isaac. 

• And we talked about living in that freedom, living in those blessings, living as a child of promise, and casting out the child of sin, the child of failure, the child of bondage. 

• And this morning we see the theme of God’s promises continued. 

• The very first verse we read this morning was a repeated promise of God to Hagar and Ishmale… God speaking says this in Genesis 21:13 

Genesis 21:13 NKJV  Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.” 

• This promise was spoken twice by God before this, once to Hagar and once to Abraham. 

Genesis 16:10 NKJV  Then the Angel of the LORD said to [Hagar], “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 

Genesis 17:20 NKJV  And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 

• God had promised that Ishmael would grow into a man, that he would be a great nation… 

• But now Hagar is in the wilderness, cast out by her husband and master… and her and her son are dying of dehydration. 

• She forgets the promises of God and waits to die. 

• Had she been a woman of faith, she would have focused on her promises instead of her problems… 

• She would have none that God would make a way when there seems to be no way… 

• But as it is, she is thirsty, her and her son are dying… she weeps desperately, and her son cries out to God in the distance. 

• But here is the good news church… provision was just around the corner… mercy was just around the corner… salvation was near if she could only see it. 

Genesis 21:16-18 NKJV  Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.  (17)  And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.  (18)  Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” 

• God hears the cry of the boy, the son of Abraham… the son of Hagar… And God responds by repeating once again, now for the fourth time, the promise over Ishmael… “I will make him a great nation.” 

• And then God says, if you would just open your eyes, there is a well for you Hagar… I have already provided a way for you… 

Genesis 21:19 NKJV  Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. 

• So this morning, as we shift away from our sermons about promises, I want to focus on this simple truth… there is a well for you. 

• There is a well for you! That is the title and the them of the message this morning. There is a well for you. 

• When you are in the wilderness and you have forgotten all the promises of God… 

• There is a well for you. 

• When you are facing the consequences of your own dumb decisions… 

• There is a well for you. 

• When you are suffering form the persecution of others… 

• There is a well for you. 

• When all hope seems lost and death has come knocking… 

• There is a well for you. 

• No matter your position, no matter your situation, no matter how deep in the wilderness you find yourself… 

• When you feel hopeless, when you feel helpless… when you feel unloved… when you feel un wanted… Church there is a well for you. 

• Oh God that you would open the eyes of the saints of this church… that you would open their eyes like you did the eyes of Hagar and show them the well you have for them. 

• The Salvation you have for them. 

• The blessings and promises and provision and LOVE you have for them. 

• Show us, Lord, the well you have for us. 

• Church, there is a well for you… let’s pray. 

• Two points this morning: 

• There is a Well For You 

• Point One – No Matter Where You Are, There is a Well For You 

• Point Two – No Matter Who You Are, There is a Well For You 

• Let’s get into it with our first point this morning… No Matter Where You Are, There is a Well For You. 

Point One – No Matter Where You Are, There is a Well For You 

Genesis 21:14 NKJV  So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 

• Hagar and Ismael wondered in the Wilderness of Beersheba… this was a part of the Negev Desert… 

• It was hot, it was dry, there was almost no vegetation. 

• It was not a great place to be wondering… 

• And certainly not a great place to be running out of water. 

• But this is where Hagar and her Teenage son found themselves. 

• Alone in the wilderness… alone in the desert with no water… dying, literally, of thirst. 

• Now this morning, you are not like Hagar and Ishmael. 

• You find yourself in a church that preaches the word of God. 

• It is full of loving and caring people… people who want to be your family… 

• People who want you to live in eternity in heaven! 

• We have water fountains you can drink from, even the water from the tap is good to drink. 

• Plus we have a food pantry downstairs that you can get your fill of groceries from if you find yourself in need. 

• No this morning you are in God’s house surrounded by God’s people and God’s presence… 

• But in a short while church will be over… and you have to return to life. 

• And I wonder how many here feel as though they are in a wilderness when they leave this place. 

• Maybe you feel abandoned, abandoned by friends… abandoned by family… by the ones you thought loved you… the ones who were SUPPOSED to love you. 

• Hagar certainly did, she was kicked out by her husband of all people. 

• Maybe you feel helpless. 

• Everything you try to do ends up failing… you can’t seem to make enough money… to provide enough food… to take care of basic necessities. 

• Hagar had everything in Abraham’s house… no she has run out of the meager rations she was given and is starving and dying of thirst. 

• Maybe you feel like God is so far from you, and you are here today as a last ditch effort to reconnect with your Lord and Your God. 

• No matter where you are in life this morning… no matter where you are this week… no matter where you find your life has brought you this year… I want to give you this encouragement saints… THERE IS A WELL FOR YOU. 

• In your job, in your family, in your faith… THERE IS A WELL FOR YOU… I wonder, do you see it. 

• Has God opened your eyes to it? 

• There is a well for you! No matter where you are… there is a well for you. 

Philippians 4:19 NKJV  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

2 Corinthians 9:8 NKJV  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 

Matthew 6:31-33 NKJV  “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  (32)  For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  (33)  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

Psalms 23:1 NKJV  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

• Man, if you have been listening to our sermons you know that God is a God who keeps His word. 

• If He says it He will do it… And God has promised you, multiple times, that He is going to provide for you. 

• Just like He promised Hagar multiple times that her son would grow into a mighty nation. 

• God promises to provide for you… to take care of you… you don’t need to suffer from want. GOD WILL PROVIDE FOR YOU. 

• You know church I think there are three kinds of Christians here this morning… 

• Haggar Christians… who have heard the promises and have forgotten them… and they are just waiting to die. 

• Ishmael Christians… whom though they are dying, they cry out to God for help and provision. 

• And then, there are a few of us, who are David Christians… who know full and well who they are and who their God is, not matter their lot in life, no matter their location… 

• You see if you are Hagar, then you need to Upgrade to Ishmael… Hagar couldn’t even bring herself to pray… she just wanted to die. 

• If that’s you, THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL! Start praying! Start Crying out to the Lord! HE HEARS YOU WHEN YOU CALL! 

Psalms 4:3 NKJV  But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him. 

Genesis 21:17a NKJV  And God heard the voice of the lad… 

• How many of us miss the well that God has for us because we never even ask… as Scripture says “You have not because you ask not”. 

But maybe you have more faith than that, you have been doing this walk with God thing for a while, you know to pray, you know to cry out… but you still find yourself in a desperate place, like Ishmael, under a bush, crying out to God… Well if that is you this morning, then you need to level up your faith to be more like the faith of David… praise God you have the faith to ask… now have the faith to Believe… Look at David’s song in Psalm 23, let it preach to you this morning. 

Psalms 23:1-6 NKJV  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  (2)  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  (3)  He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.  (4)  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  (5)  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.  (6)  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever. 

• The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want… I am not going to die of thirst in this wilderness, God provides all my needs. 

• He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me besides still waters… in other words, HE HAS A WELL FOR ME. 

• Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death… 

• Even though I walk through the Negev Desert, the wilderness of Beersheba… even though death is knocking at my door because my water skin has dried up… through it all, GOD COMFORTS ME… surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life… GOODNESS AND MERCY FOLLOW ME!  

• YOUR GOODNESS IS RUNNING AFTER, IT’S RUNNING AFTER ME! 

• So this morning, no matter where you are, I pray that God would open your eyes to the well that He has for you, the blessing that He has for you, the provision He has for you. 

• Maybe that well is coming in the form of a new job, are you looking for it. 

• Or are you just hanging out in your dead end job waiting to die? 

• Maybe it is coming in the form of new friendships and relationships with other believers, are you looking for it? 

• Or do you come to church late and leave early, never talking to anyone new? 

• Maybe it is coming in the form of a clean hear and renewed Spirit… 

• Are you asking for it… or is your flame slowly being snuffed out. 

• OPEN THE EYES OF OUR HEARTS LORD… Let us see the well you have for us in this wilderness! 

Genesis 21:19 NKJV  Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. 

• Now in the same vein as “No matter Where You Are, There is a Well For You” point two this morning encourages us that “No Matter WHO You Are, There is a Well For You”. 

Point Two – No Matter Who You Are, There is a Well For You 

Genesis 21:9-13 NKJV  And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.  (10)  Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.”  (11)  And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.  (12)  But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.  (13)  Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.” 

• Listen… Ishmael was a mistake. 

• He was a child of faithlessness, a child of sin, a child of bondage. 

• His mother was a slave. He was born into a lurch… is he Abrahams son or Abrahams slave. 

• Would he always play second fiddle to his younger half brother Isaac? 

• Ishmael let who he was dictate his behavior in persecuting and scoffing at and mocking Isaac, the Child of Promise. 

• He compared who he was to who Isaac was and he didn’t like it… it soured him. 

• And yet… there was a well for Ishmael… there was a promise for Ishmael… there was salvation for Ishmael… there salvation for Ishamel… 

• You know what, as a matter of fact, I am just going to conclude with this point because it goes so beautifully into the Gospel. 

Conclusion

• No matter who you are there is a well for you. 

• Maybe you are a felon, you feel like you screwed your life up and there will never be any good for you… let me prophesy into your life this morning: There is a well for you. 

• Maybe you are a widow, or a divorcee… you feel like you will never be loved again… let me speak into your life: THERE IS A WELL FOR YOU. 

• Maybe you are backslidden, you are prodigal, you once know the things of God, you knew His miracles, His Power, His Love, and His provision, but you have walked away from it all and you wonder if God will ever take you back… Listen, THERE IS A WELL FOR YOU! 

• No matter who you are, whether you come from wealth or poverty, whether you come from a long line of Christians or you are the only Christian in your family… no matter who you are, THERE IS A WELL FOR YOU. 

• Do you believe it? Do you trust God for it? Are you asking for it? ARE YOUR EYES OPEN TO IT? 

• One of the most beautiful things about the story of Ishamel and Hagar is that through all of Ishmaels failures… through all of Hagars failures… through all of Abrahams failures and Sarah’s failures that directly impacted Hagar and Ishmael life… 

• Through all of it… the unwanted Egyptian slave woman, and her son of sin and bondage… they remained wanted by God… they remained blessed by God… they remained provided for by God… the were SAVED by God. 

• But listen, I need to make this very clear… this is not a sermon of “no matter what you do you can live a wealthy and healthy life”. 

• No, that is not the message today… this message is for Christians… for children of the Living God… because through all of this, Ishmael still remained a child of Abraham… 

• So “no matter who you are there is a well for you” that does not mean that you can be a reprobate sinner, living in filthy unrepentant sin… and still expect the goodness of God to run after you. 

• Because the Bible says that God does not hear the prayers of the wicked… 

• But even so… even if you are wicked, you know it and God knows it… EVEN SO STILL… there is a well for you, but before you come to the well of provision you must first come to the well of salvation. 

• For there was another women who found a well, a well that Jesus was at. 

• This woman was living in a life of sexual sin, she knew it and Jesus knew it… 

• And Jesus did not give her money, or a new house, or any other kind of provision… He gave her something far more important… instead of the physical water Hagar and Ishmael needed to survive, Jesus gave this other woman at a well living water… water needed to live forever… 

John 4:13-14 NKJV  Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,  (14)  but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 

Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God. Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids. 2808 Schaeffer DR SW, Cedar Rapids, IA   52404. www.CedarRapidsChurch.com