The Well in the Wilderness.

LOOK at that mother and her boy! They have been sent away from the home where they have lived ever since he was born, and now they are wandering about on the hot sand of the desert. They started early in the morning, and the mother had a big bottle of water on her shoulder, but now they have drank it every drop, and cannot find any more. It is too hot for them to live long without water, and, as none is to be seen, the woman makes up her mind that they must die. But she loves the lad, and cannot bear to see him die; it is so hard to see those suffer whom we love. I think sometimes, as I read of the blessed Lord Jesus dying on the cross, what it must have been to His Father, God, as He looked down and saw how cruelly and shamefully the wicked men were serving His “beloved Son!” How very patient and good He must be to see it all, and not destroy in a moment the people who provoked Him so!
Well, this poor woman, Hagar, cannot bear to think of seeing her dear boy die of thirst, so she puts him down under a shrub, and goes “a good way off,” leaving him all alone, not thinking ever to see him again alive. And then she sits down, and bursts out crying, to think how hard her lot is; and now to have to part with her dear Ishmael, whom she loved so much. But when she weeps and lifts up her voice, and the boy too, cries out where he is, God hears from heaven, and sends His angel to speak to her. He calls to her and says, “Fear not” — the very same words that God and His angels have said so many times to poor men and women when afraid or in trouble. In the. Gospel of St. Luke you may read those same two little words that mean so much seven times over; three times spoken by angels, and four times by Jesus, the Lord of angels. One of the first things we read about Adam after he had sinned against God was, that “he was afraid;” and one of the first things we read about the coming into the world of the Saviour of sinners is, that God sent His angels to say to them, “Fear not.”
And so in this chapter the angel says the same to Hagar: “Fear not.” And more than this, “God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water! “This was just what she wanted, and yet it was there before, and she did not see it. God had provided that well; Hagar had not to dig for the water, but just to go and fill her empty bottle with it, when God opened her eyes to see it. How this reminds us of another poor weary woman we read of in the fourth chapter of John, who also had an empty water pot, and a heart empty of everything that could satisfy her, or make her really happy. And one sat near her who was the “Fountain of living waters,” and she did not know Him. Presently her eyes were opened to see and know a little of what He was, as Hagar’s were to see the well that was springing up with water near to her. And then she was filled, left her water-pot empty, and forgot it, in telling the people of the city about Jesus!
Dear reader, young or old, however full the bottle may have been when you started, soon the water will be all “spent” in it, and you cannot go back for more. You may have “started in life” early and happy, and thought to make a good thing of it, like the young man in Luke 15 who “gathered all together, and took his journey;” but the time “when he had spent all” soon came. Our mirth and joy will not last long away from Him who giveth us all things richly to enjoy. And what then “A mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want.” The “waste” must bring “want” sooner or later, and all is waste that is spent on ourselves away from God!
But some have begun to be in want; I trust you have, dear reader. You say “I perish with hunger,” I am in a wilderness that gives me nothing really good. I have a guilty conscience, an uneasy mind, a wretched heart. I long to find rest for my soul, but the world, with all it calls pleasure, only makes me weary and sad. It amuses and excites, but leaves the heart empty; the water is spent in the bottle; what shall I do? Dear friend, it is Jesus you need; He alone can satisfy, and He is near at hand — “nigh unto all that call upon Him.” And you cannot want Him more than He wants you. When He gave that poor “woman of Samaria” to drink of living water, He was so pleased Himself — so satisfied, that it was like food to Him. His disciples beg Him to eat what they have brought Him from the city, but He says, “My meat (or food) is to do the will of Him that sent me.” And when the poor prodigal was received back safe and sound, it was his father and not he, who said, “It was meet that we should make merry and be glad.”
Hagar’s eyes were opened to see a well that was already there, though she thought herself about to die with thirst; and just so the precious Saviour your heart needs, is One who has already come. His precious blood has been shed for sin, and put it away for everyone who believes in Him. You have not to go anywhere to find Him, or do anything to turn His heart towards you, or open His hand to bless you. He is near, and waiting to be gracious. He says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink” (John 7:3737In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. (John 7:37)). “Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)).
W. T.