Life isn’t fair. God is faithful. You can spend all the days of your life trying to make sense of nonsense and it still won’t make sense. You can also spend all the days of your life searching for God’s faithfulness and you will find it in abundance. He never promised it would be fair. He never promised it would be easy. He promised it will be worth it.

God never said we wouldn’t experience loss, or failure, or death, or pain. He never said that things would always go our way, that we would always know where to go, that our road would be perfectly smooth.

But what He did promise was that He would be forever standing by our side, forever carrying us through the hardest seasons, forever arms outstretched leaning in to us. What He did say was that in every season of brokenness, He would bring us hope, strength, and truth.He did say his mercies would be new for you this morning.

In Genesis we read of a woman who was kicked out of her home by the people she loved and trusted. Her name was Hagar. Perhaps you know her story as the servant of Sarah who was used for a child when Sarah and Abraham couldn’t have children of their own. Once they had their own baby, Hagar and her son became a problem for them, a constant reminder of their screw up, so they kicked her out.

Now that wasn’t fair in any way. But once again, life isn’t always fair. I’ve seen good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people and I can’t give you the reasoning behind it. We can get caught up in the blame game and be victims for the rest of our days, or we can gain a new perspective.

Are you ready for a new perspective on your unfair situation today? Are you ready to be enlightened to see the answer right in front of you?

Let’s pick back up in the story. Hagar has been kicked out unfairly. She’s now wandering around in the desert, out in the middle of nowhere with nothing. The bread and water had ran out and her son was dying. She cried out to God and God does something miraculous. The Bible says, in Genesis 21:19, “Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water, and she went and gave the boy a drink.” Do you see that? God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.

Her eyes were opened.

I have to wonder if the answer to our problem isn’t right in front of us, but we’re not seeing it. Our perspective is wrong. Our focus is off. We need God to open our eyes so we can see. The truth is, we’re incapable of finding the answers to our problems on our own. Like Hagar, we desperately need God. That’s his plan. He doesn’t want you to be able to live life well without him.

He is using the very problem you face today to bring you closer to him. The more you fight it and try to come up with the solutions on your own, the harder it’s going to be. You need God. I need God. Hagar had the solution right in front of her, it was a well of water, but she couldn’t see it until God opened her eyes and helped her see from a different perspective.

That’s what I need today. I need God to open my eyes and help me see from a different perspective. Is that what you need? There are resources right in front of you, but you’re not seeing them. You’ve been dealing with this problem for so long now, what you need is to see with a new light. God is that light. He can illuminate every area of darkness and confusion in your life. Have you asked him to shine his light on this problem so you can see better?

You are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Everything you do or don’t do today is part of your problem or your solution. Everything you think today will be part of your problem or your solution. Everything you say today will either be part of your problem or your solution. Everything you eat today will be part of your solution or part of your problem. So what an incredible filter it would be today to stop and catch yourself and ask if what you’re doing, saying, or thinking is part of your problem or solution.

We need God to send down his light of illumination and help us see what’s right in front of us. The solution is right in front of us and so is the problem. We can’t go through today blindly stumbling about and accidentally continuing to be part of our own problem. It may be accidental, but sister it’s still going to ruin your life.

Will you be bold enough to ask God where you are part of the problem? Oh, that’s a bold prayer. Will you ask God to open your eyes to the solutions all around you, then when you see the solutions go get in the middle of it. Be an active participant in the solution.

Hey, if your health is spiraling out of control, or your marriage is in turmoil, or you’re living in chaos, what are you going to do today? Or maybe there’s no major chaos but little by little things are just getting worse. The slide is ever so gradual, but you know you’re not getting any better. Hey, whatever your situation is, you have a choice. Ask God to open your eyes to what is right in front of you. Illumination, it’s light in a dark world. It’s light in a dark problem. I know I need some light today. I need some guidance. I need God to open my eyes. I’m desperately seeking him and I want to be part of the solution. What about you?