A couple of months ago, on a flight across several states, I looked out the small airplane window to check out the scenery below me. It was all desert, and from high above, it was breathtaking. I couldn’t see any rows of houses or roads. No houses. No roads. Not even the hills of trees that I’m used to. Instead, there were mountains of what looked like desert sand. Can a wilderness be beautiful? When viewed from a new perspective, I believe it can be.

Sometimes, life feels like we’re in the wilderness. When I have experienced those wilderness times, I often wonder about the what-ifs. When all we can see is the wilderness around us, we may want to give up.

I know for myself, there are times when I want to give up on writing. I love it, but it’s not always easy because, of course, I need the words to flow – and sometimes, the words don’t flow.

But you know what always flows? God’s fountain of grace.

Do you ever feel like quitting? Maybe it’s not writing, but is there something in your personal journey that has you questioning or wondering if you’re on the right track? As I was in a state of wondering, “What am I doing?” I came across a verse that has become one of my favorites, and it’s two questions that God asked Hagar in the book of Genesis 16.

It is two questions that we can ask ourselves, too. Where have you come from? And where are you going?

Not only have those questions led me to a space of deep reflection, but I was filled with hope as I noticed that there was a spring of water that Hagar went to in the wilderness. I’m not sure if I have ever noticed that when reading Hagar’s story. She was in a wilderness, yet there was a spring of water that she stopped at. A wilderness may feel dry and barren, but what if God wants us to find the spring of water there?

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 to her, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” – Genesis 16:7-8

Hagar was running. She wanted to get away from her mistress, Sarai. But God told her to return to her. If someone were acting harshly toward me, I wouldn’t want to go back, would you? If it were me, I would be thinking, “I am out of here.” But God had something far greater planned for Hagar. And I believe the same for me and you.

Hagar was running away from Sarai. My thought of running from my writing is, of course, a different situation, and if you want to turn the other way, I imagine it looks different for you, too. But when we consider these two questions for ourselves, it allows us to pause and reset.

Where are you going? I’ve wanted to run from quite a few things, circumstances that are smaller than Hagar’s, of course, but I can relate. I know that I have seen God who looks after me. The same holds true for you as you choose to run to the throne of His love rather than running away from the hardest of things, the mundane, and what you know are the right things for you, but you’ve asked the same thing I have, “What am I doing?” Is it worth it?

Instead of running away from our wilderness, we can run toward the spring of water – where Jesus is, waiting for us.

God’s questions for Hagar brought her clarity. It brought such clarity that she could see God. She had seen God’s hand upon her and replied, “You are a God of seeing” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me” (Genesis 16:13).

My heart longs to reach a place where, when I am running from something — whether it’s something I know I should do or simply uncomfortable circumstances — I want to see God. I don’t want to see anything else but Him.

When you feel like running, remember the questions that God asked Hagar. “Where have you come from and where are you going?”

Where has God brought you from? When has there been a spring of water – a spring of hope – in the wilderness that has encouraged you to stop running? As we notice the spring of water, we’re encouraged to listen to God’s voice and see His grace moving in our midst.

I love the questions from God in the wilderness because they prompt me to pause and listen to Him. When we feel like we’re in the wilderness, we can rest assured that if we’re paying attention, we’ll find the spring of water. We will see Him and know that He is looking after us.