Waiting Well: When God Meets Us in Silence

Sep 07, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When God Meets You in the Wilderness of Your Failure

Hagar fled into the desert, pregnant and alone, convinced her life was over. But the angel of the Lord found her there—not to condemn, but to call her back into the mess she’d run from. God saw her pain, named her worth, and promised blessing beyond her imagination. Even in our worst failures, God doesn’t abandon us. He meets us in the wilderness, not to scold, but to redirect us toward his grace. His presence turns our deserts into places of divine encounter. [30:13]

“The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, ‘Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’ She said, ‘I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.’ The angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Return to your mistress and submit to her.’ The angel of the Lord also said to her, ‘I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.’ So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.’”
(Genesis 16:7-13, ESV)

Reflection: Where in your life have you been running from a mess you helped create? How might God be inviting you to trust His presence even as you walk back into difficulty?

Day 2: Laughing at God’s Promise While Clutching Your Plan

Abraham fell facedown in laughter when God reaffirmed His covenant. His response revealed a heart clinging to Ishmael as “good enough” rather than embracing God’s impossible miracle. We often prefer our manageable plans over God’s disruptive promises. Yet God’s “no” to Abraham’s compromise was kindness—an invitation to stop striving and receive grace. True blessing comes not from our backup plans, but from His power. [34:37]

“Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, ‘Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before you!’ God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.’”
(Genesis 17:17-19, ESV)

Reflection: What “Ishmael” have you been settling for instead of trusting God’s promise? Where might you be laughing at His plans while white-knuckling your own?

Day 3: The Explosion of Relationships When We Rush Ahead

Sarai’s jealousy and Hagar’s contempt turned a household into a warzone. Impatience fractures relationships—whether through silent resentment like Abraham’s passivity or Sarai’s harsh retaliation. Every shortcut around God’s timing leaves collateral damage. Yet even in brokenness, God works. Hagar’s story shows He sees the marginalized and rewrites narratives of oppression through His mercy. [28:01]

“And when [Hagar] saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sarai said to Abram, ‘May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!’ But Abram said to Sarai, ‘Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.’ Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.”
(Genesis 16:4-6, ESV)

Reflection: What relationship tensions in your life might stem from rushing ahead of God’s timing? How can you take responsibility without blaming others?

Day 4: Walking Before God When the Mountaintop Feels Distant

For thirteen silent years, Abraham waited. No burning bushes, no angelic visitors—just ordinary days of tending flocks and doubting. Yet God’s call to “walk before me” (Genesis 17:1) reframes waiting as active trust, not passive stagnation. Walking with God in the mundane prepares us for miracles. Like David in Psalm 22, we anchor ourselves not in feelings, but in God’s unchanging character. [40:54]

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.”
(Psalm 22:1-4, ESV)

Reflection: Where has God’s silence made you question His presence? How might this season be preparing you to walk more closely with Him?

Day 5: The Savior Who Shows Up at Your Lowest Moment

Hagar—a pregnant slave, abused and alone—became the first person in Scripture to name God “El Roi” (the God Who Sees). Centuries later, Jesus would kneel with another marginalized woman at a well, offering living water. Our Savior specializes in meeting people in their shame, exhaustion, and desperation. The cross proves He doesn’t just see our pain—He enters it. [57:05]

“And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”
(Mark 2:3-5, ESV)

Reflection: When have you experienced Jesus meeting you in your lowest place? How does His presence there empower you to walk forward in hope?

Sermon Summary

Genesis 16 shows what happens when people want God’s blessing but refuse God’s way. Sarai looks at her barrenness, feels the weight of waiting, and lands on a terrible belief: “The Lord has prevented me.” Her pain turns into the suspicion that God is against her, and that wrong belief sends her full speed into a plan that is legal in her culture but nowhere close to faithful.

Abram agrees, Hagar becomes pregnant, and the whole house blows up. Hagar looks down on Sarai. Sarai blames Abram. Abram abdicates responsibility and basically says, “Do whatever you want.” Sarai mistreats Hagar so badly that Hagar runs into the wilderness as a vulnerable, pregnant fugitive slave. Their attempt to grab the promise through their own wisdom breaks every relationship around them.

The angel of the Lord finds Hagar at the lowest moment of her life. God does not miss her in the wilderness. Hagar names him El Roi, “the God who sees me,” because the One who sees draws near to a hurting, forgotten woman and gives her hope. The angel calls Hagar back into something incredibly hard, but God’s call comes with a promise of blessing that she could never create for herself.

Genesis 17 then brings thirteen years of silence to an end. God appears to Abram as El Shaddai, God Almighty, the all-powerful and always-in-control God. God has not lost control in the silence or the waiting. God renames Abram and Sarai, confirms the covenant, and promises that Sarah herself will bear Isaac. Abraham laughs and asks whether Ishmael can simply be acceptable instead. God answers with one sharp word: “No.” God refuses to let Abraham’s plan replace God’s miracle.

The contrast between Abraham’s works and God’s grace exposes the heart of the problem. Abraham and Sarah cannot earn the blessing by figuring out the right strategy, just as Adam and Eve could not seize God’s goodness apart from God. Grace means God keeps loving and working through people who fail epically.

God calls his people to walk before him in the silence, trusting his unshakable character when his nearness does not feel obvious. God also gives community, rest, meditation, and sabbath as real help for the long walk. Jesus finally stands at the center as the One who comes near at the lowest moment, gives his body and blood, and proves that God’s love does not need to be guessed at or waited for.

Key Takeaways

1. God’s delay is not God’s opposition. Sarai’s suffering leads her to believe that God is preventing her good, but silence does not mean hostility. God’s promises often place faith in a long waiting room where control cannot be grabbed. El Shaddai remains fully in control even when nothing seems to be moving. [33:16]
2. Human plans cannot produce divine blessing. Abram and Sarai try to get the good life God promised through their own strategy, and the result is pain, humiliation, and fractured relationships. God’s “No” to Ishmael as the promised son protects the truth that blessing comes by grace, not human achievement. God does not need a backup plan from people who cannot save themselves. [37:20]
3. The God who sees meets outcasts. Hagar reaches the wilderness as a fugitive slave, isolated and afraid, yet the angel of the Lord finds her there. El Roi sees the person others use, mistreat, and forget. Christ still comes near when life feels deserted, shame-filled, and beyond repair. [30:51]
4. Faith walks through seasons of silence. God tells Abraham to walk before him, not sprint ahead and not collapse in defeat. David models faith by naming God’s felt distance while clinging to God’s holy and rescuing character. Faith trusts who God says he is when the mountaintop experience is nowhere in sight. [45:34]
5. Rest makes room to hear God. A life packed with grinding, rushing, and checking spiritual boxes can leave the soul cold and dull. Jesus deliberately gets away from the crowds to pray, and that rest gives him clarity to follow the Father’s direction. Slowing down is not falling behind when it sharpens the heart to recognize Jesus.

## [55:55]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[16:49] - Women’s and Men’s Ministry Updates
[21:03] - Abram and Sarai Struggle to Wait
[24:15] - Sarai’s Plan and a Wrong Belief
[28:01] - A Household Broken by Impatience
[30:13] - Hagar Found in the Wilderness
[32:41] - El Shaddai Speaks After Silence
[34:37] - Abraham Wants God to Use His Plan
[37:20] - Grace Instead of Human Works
[40:54] - Walking With God in the Silence
[46:07] - Living All of Life in Community
[50:47] - Resting and Slowing Down
[56:19] - Jesus, the God Who Sees
[58:30] - Jesus Proves God’s Love
[60:45] - Communion and Worship

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Genesis 16:1–16

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. [24:22]
And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. [24:28]
So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. [24:38]
And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. [24:45]
And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” [28:41]
But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. [29:13]
The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. [30:33]
And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” [30:44]
The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” [30:51]
The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” [30:51]
And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.” [30:51]
“He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” [30:51]
So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” [31:20]
Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. [31:24]
And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. [31:28]
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Genesis 17:1–22

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.” [32:57]
“That I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”
Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him,
“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.” [33:31]
“No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” [33:40]
“I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.”
“And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.”
“And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.”
“This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.” [33:46]
“You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.”
“He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,”
“Both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.”
“Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.” [34:31]
“I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” [34:19]
And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” [34:33]
God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.” [37:12]
“As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.”
“But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” [37:20]
When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Psalm 22:1–5

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? [44:04]
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. [44:27]
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. [44:38]
In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. [44:42]
To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. [44:46]

Observation questions

What belief does Sarai express about God in Genesis 16:2, and what plan grows out of that belief? [25:07]
How does each person respond after Hagar becomes pregnant—Hagar toward Sarai, Sarai toward Abram and Hagar, and Abram toward the conflict? [27:57]
What details in Genesis 16 show how vulnerable Hagar is when the angel of the Lord finds her in the wilderness? [30:13]
In Genesis 17, what names, promises, and covenant signs does God give Abraham and Sarah after the long silence? [33:31]

Interpretation questions

Sarai believes that the Lord has prevented her from having children. How can prolonged disappointment turn a real pain into the false conclusion that God is against someone? [25:34]
Abram and Sarai’s plan was accepted in their culture, yet it led to contempt, blame, harsh treatment, and escape. What does this reveal about the difference between what is culturally normal and what is faithful to God? [26:33]
Why is God’s answer “No” to Abraham’s request about Ishmael important? What would be lost if God’s covenant promise came through Abraham’s own solution instead of through God’s promised miracle? [37:21]
Psalm 22 holds together honest words of pain and confidence in God’s character. What does David choose to remember about God when he feels unheard and far from help? [44:50]

Application questions

Is there an area of waiting where the heart has begun to say, “God is preventing me,” or “God must be against me”? What disappointment is making that lie feel believable right now? [25:45]
When life feels stalled, what is the personal “Hagar plan”—a shortcut, relationship, purchase, compromise, or carefully managed plan—that is tempting because it seems to offer control? What could be damaged by moving ahead without trusting God’s way? [29:49]
Hagar calls God El Roi, the God who sees. Where does someone in the group feel overlooked, ashamed, stuck, or alone? How does God seeing that person change the way they can face this week? [31:28]
God calls Abraham to walk before him. What would it look like to take the next faithful step rather than trying to sprint ahead, force an answer, or give up during a quiet season? [41:17]
Who are the people who already know enough about life to help carry burdens and point one another to Jesus? If those relationships are thin, what is one realistic step toward deeper community this week? [48:32]
Is life currently so packed with work, family demands, screens, and activity that there is little room to hear and reflect on God’s Word? What rhythm of rest, Sabbath, or unhurried Scripture meditation could be tried this week? [52:22]
Jesus has already shown God’s love by coming near in humanity’s lowest moment and giving his body and blood. How can that settled truth help someone trust God’s heart even while still waiting for a prayer to be answered? [58:03]

Sermon Clips

42s

#JesusShowedUp

“Jesus proved it. He showed up. He showed up in our lowest moment. Like like Hagar's lowest moment right here when life is at its worst, Jesus showed up in our lowest moment. When we were dead in our trespasses and sins, when we had no hope of the future, and we were strangers cast out of God's family, Jesus showed up and went to the cross for us and gave himself for us, his body and his blood so that you and I can come all the way back home and know that we are loved to death. You don't have to wait one more second to know if God loves you. Jesus proved it because he showed up for you at your lowest moment.”

38s

#FaithInTheValley

“And, man, I think that's exactly what God calls us to do. I think that's what faith is. Faith is trusting in the unshakable, unchanging character of God even when we're not on the mountaintop of experiencing it in the moment. So, man, you may be in that valley. It may be feel really like God has been silent in this season or maybe for years. I think what God's calling you today is the same thing he was calling Sarah and Abraham to do, that they failed at. Same thing that is so tough for us to do in the waiting, to trust him in who he says he is and what he's promised to do.”

49s

#HopeForTheHurting

“And even Hagar knows, man, when she asks at the end, she says, have I really seen the one? In this place, in my lowest moment, have I really seen the one? Had the one really come near to a hurting fugitive slave girl and given her hope? Doesn't that sound exactly like something Jesus would do? either this was Jesus himself come to hear Hagar, which I think it was, or it was an angel of the Lord who shows us exactly what Jesus would be like. He's the one who draws near to us when we're most broken. He's the one who shows up when we feel most alone. He's the one who gives us hope when all feels lost.”

26s

#KnowGodLovesYouNow

“Guys, in this journey of going all in and following God, God is gonna ask you to do a lot of waiting. A lot of waiting. And he's gonna sharpen you in it, he's gonna meet you in it. He's gonna work powerfully through you in it. You're gonna do a lot of waiting. But here's one thing you don't have to wait at all on. You don't have to wait at all to know if God loves you.”

48s

#TrustNotFeelings

“You see, guys, David is not trusting in his feelings or his experience of God. David is trusting in the unshakable, unchanging character of God. In verses one and two, David's, he's admitting this. God feels far away. In verses three and four, David's saying, but I know who he is. I know who he is. Even in the silence, even in the day by day walking and feeling like he's far away, I know who our God is. He is holy. He is enthroned. He showed up for our ancestors. He is the rescuer. I'm gonna trust in who he says he is even when I don't feel the experience of it.”

46s

#NoDIYBlessings

“Let's make our own plan. Let's not do it God's way. Let's let let's get the the God's goodness our own way. Let's live our own lives in God's world and try to get God's blessing our own way without him. And it absolutely threw a bomb onto Adam and Eve's life. It exploded for them just like it exploded for Abram and Sarai, just like it explodes for us when we try to get the blessings of God and the good life that God has promised us apart from God's plan. When we try to get it our own way. And the point of it is this, man, none of us can get God's blessings by our own plan and wisdom. None of us can get God's blessings by our own works.”

29s

#ElShaddaiAlwaysInControl

“After thirteen years of silence, God speaks to Abram and reveals this new name, God Almighty. First time it appears in the Bible, it's the name El Shaddai, the all powerful, always in control, almighty God. It's God saying, Abraham, I know it's felt like I've been silent. I know it's felt like you've just been into this waiting stall pattern, but I have been in control all along, even in the silence, even in the waiting. That's what that name means.”

53s

#GraceForBrokenHeroes

“If Abraham, the father of our faith, couldn't do it, then there's no way we can. I mean, he's the father of our faith. He's the one listed in the hall of faith as this hero of the faith. But think about how messed up he is. He's such a failure. He's a slave owner, liar, mistreated Sarah, mistreated Hagar, laughs at God. getting the blessings of God depends on Abraham's works, he's toast. Sarah too. Sarah doubted God's goodness and love, gave her slave to her husband to sleep with, had a slave, beat her slave. lift these people up as incredible characters The faith in the Bible, we look at their high moments and think we're supposed to be like them. But the Bible is really just a book about people who are constantly, epically failing. But God continues to choose to love them in spite of their failures and work through them. It's called grace.”

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