WHERE?

“And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”  – Genesis 16:8a

Another vital question to reflect on is the Question of WHERE – the factor of PLACE or LOCATION. You are on a journey ‘from location to destination.’ Your location is WHERE you are now in life. Your destination is WHERE God has destined you to reach: “For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off” (Pro.23:18, kjv). There is a destination that is established and settled in the perfect will of God, but not everyone reaches destination or fully fulfils destiny. That does not preclude the reality of such a destination: “surely there is an end”! I pray that your expectation of reaching the divine destination ordained for you shall not be disappointed, in Jesus name!

The pertinent questions then are: “Where are you?” (Location), “Where are you going?” (Direction), “Why are you where you are?” and “What are you doing there?” Remember, the first question God asked in the Bible is “Where are you?” (Gen.3:9b). God knew where Adam was physically, but He posed the question in order to point his attention to his changed spiritual positioning – his spiritual demotion. Suddenly, sin separated the first man from the Presence of God (Isa.59:2). He became a fugitive from the divine presence.

Adam was not the only fugitive mentioned in the Bible. Hagar the Egyptian maid ran away from her mistress, Abram's wife, Sarah (Gen.16:6). As soon as Hagar learned that she was pregnant for Abram, she started to despise her mistress, who had not been able to bear children. Alarmed by such blatant disrespect, Sarah retaliated by treating Hagar harshly. Although there later came a time when Hagar needed to separate from Abram's family (Gen. 21:5-21), in this case she had decided to flee before the appointed time. God always seems to ask the fugitives why they are running. The Angel of the LORD said to Hagar, “where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Gen.16:8a). That is a very vital question. There are many people who have no idea where they've come from or where they are going.

No sane human being can be fulfilled unless they understand three basics: where they've come from, what they're doing where they are, and where they're going. Forget the agnostics and atheists who query the reality of God and eternity; those who think that they came from nothing and are going nowhere. So in the meantime, they’re trying to prove to everybody that nothing matters and that everything is relative. They spend all of their time trying to convince people that a God who they do not believe exists does not exist. Perhaps the reason they do this is because in their heart of hearts, they know that God exists but cannot bear it. They feel compelled to refute Him because they don't want to answer to Him someday. Every soul must ultimately answer to his or her Maker! What tragedy it would be to stand empty and naked before Him!

If you do not know where you are, how will you know where you are going? The scissors of self-assessment must slice through every sector of your “circle of life”:

• Where are you spiritually and in ministry?
• Where are you mentally and intellectually?
• Where are you physically and emotionally?
• Where are you in marital and in family-life?
• Where are you materially and financially?
• Where are you socially and relationally?
• Where are you geographically?

Are you in God’s “place of blessing”? Are you in your Eden, your Gerar or your Cherith? Adam and Eve lost their Eden of serenity due to disobedience (Gen. 2:8-15; 3:23-24). Isaac obeyed God by staying and sowing in Gerar and he was blessed abundantly (Gen. 26:1-14). Elijah obeyed God’s Word to go to Cherith – where God purposed to prosper him; and his supply never failed, even in famine (1Kgs 17:1-4). Any other place would have been a place of pain and penury. Are you certain that you are in the centre of God’s Will? This is the season to ascertain God’s Mind and Will concerning your WHERE in life!