Lemonade

There is an old say that goes, "If life gives you lemons, then make lemonade." If there are some problems in your life, then figure out how to use those problems to your benefit and make something good happen.

That can be encouraging advice, but it can also be really frustrating if you don't know how to make lemonade or turn your problems into something good.

Our character for this week is Hagar. She was the female servant of Sarah and Abraham who was blessed with the honor of having a son, but later driven from the life that she knew, almost dying with her son in the desert. God was taking care of her, and through her son, Ishmael, many grandchildren and later descendants were born into Hagar's family.

If it is up to us to make lemonade, we might get stuck, but we know that in all circumstances God works for the good of those that love him (Romans 8:28). Rest in the fact that it's God's job to fix the problems and it's our job to trust him to do it: it's God's job to make the lemonade and it's our job to enjoy it.

Genesis 50:20New International Version (NIV)

20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.