Living Under The Shadow - Bro Jesse Howell 5-10-2026

It's wonderful to be in church this evening. Amen again

on Sunday. Appreciate what all has been done and said

already thus far in the service. And I just appreciate

the Lord. I got a new Bible right here, and

it does not want to cooperate, but I want to

say I appreciate my pastor and this opportunity to be

here tonight to bring the word of the Lord. I

did try to study and pray for this, and I

believe that I have got a hold of the mind

of the Lord because he spoke to I feel like

he spoke to me. Amen, and I just want to

obey him. I want to say I appreciate the offering

a man i, miss, I appreciate your giving and all

that you've done thus far. Thank you to each and

every one of y'all for what y'all have done and

what you are doing for my wife and my beautiful

family and for our family. Amen. Welcoming our new baby girl. Amen.

We're just plumb thrilled about what God's done. Amen. Just

a wonderful Amen. Uh man. I said, I wasn't going

to say Amen that much, but I'm letting a few

slide here. Tonight. But we're very thankful for what God

has done, just the manifold blessings and wonderful Amen. Power

of God. But we thank God for that and for

all of you all. Amen. It's just wonderful. And I've

got you thinking about how many times I say Amen

tonight now, so every time I say it, y'all going

to be smiling at me. That's all right, that's all right.

So thanks Sister Wooting. Amen. That's something us young preachers

getting a habit of. And that's that habit dies hard man,

disr Turn with me to the Book of Beginnings this

morning or this evening tonight, this after this evening. As

Brother Nathaniel was saying, we always did good to get

a good kick out of that, I wanted the Lord

to help us tonight. About halfway through the song service

there at the nursing home, my voice left me. I

couldn't sing on key or nothing anymore. I tried to

preach and I was I wasn't much more than a

whisper over there. And so I just trust the Lord

to help us here tonight. I don't want to miss

anything here. I do miss my pastor and his wife

so very much. We appreciate their burden here for the

work of the Lord, and we appreciate them doing the

work of God wherever they're at, Amen, everywhere they've gone,

everywhere they go, everywhere they have gone, or everywhere they

will go. I just believe because I've seen it, Amen,

that they do the work of the Lord. I do

appreciate my mother. Amen. I love her dearly, and I

just thank God for giving her to me and to us. Amen.

All right, can I'm gonna get some co text following

my pastor's footsteps, shall we? I need two brothers that'll

read for me. Thank you, Brother Nathaniel, hey man, follow

my pastor's example here, Brother Nathaniel, would you turn to

the Book of Psalms, chapter number fifty seven, verse number one,

Brother Caleb Matthew, the twenty third chapter and verse number

thirty seven. Thank you, brethren, Psals fifty seven and verse

number one, Brother Nathaniel Matthew, twenty three and thirty seven,

Brother Caleb, Amen, be.

Merciful unto me, Old God, be merciful unto me. For

my soul trusteth in thee yay in the shadow of wings.

Will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed.

AmAm brother Caleb Matthew twenty three and verse number thirty seven,

My brother.

Old Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stones

them which are sent unto the How often would I

have gathered the children together even as a hen gathereth

her chicks under her wings, and you would not.

Hey man? Genesis chapter number twenty one. Genesis chapter number

twenty one. For our text this morning or this app

this tonight, ibout did it for real that time? Genesis

chapter number twenty one. We're gonna start reading. In verse

number nine, we'll read a few versus the scriptures. Here.

And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which

she had born unto Abraham, making wherefore she said, unto Abraham,

cast out this bond woman and her son, for the

son of this bond woman shall not be with my son,

even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in

Abraham's sight because of his son. And God said, unto Abraham,

let it not be grievous in thy sight because of

the lad and because of thy bond woman. In all

that Sarah hath said unto thee hearken unto her voice,

For in Isaac, shall thy seed be called, And also

the son of the bond woman, will I make a

nation because he is thy Seed. And Abraham rose up

early in the morning and took bread and a bottle

of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on

her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away. And

they departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, and

the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast

the child under one of the shrubs. Would you lift

your hands and ask the Lord to help us here

just a little while, Lord, we thank you so much

for your goodness and your mercy, your grace and your kindness. Lord.

I stand here today is your humble servant, Lord, understanding

that I'm nothing without you God, that I can do

nothing without you. Lord. I am just a few days

and full of trouble God, and I need your help

Lord tonight. If we're gonna accomplish anything for your work,

for your work, God, if we're gonna do anything that's good, Lord,

we're gonna need you to help us. God. I acknowledge you, Lord,

and my need for you. I love you. I thank you,

and I praise you, and I depend on you. In

the wonderful name of Jesus. We pray, Amen and Amen.

I do want to kind of stick with the theme

here tonight, Amen, on this beautiful day that we have

set aside to celebrate our mothers. I felt the Lord

lead me this way, and I felt the Lord speak

into my heart Saturday, early earlier, not real early, but

early Saturday morning. Amen, I want to preach you a little

title called living under the Shadow. Amen. Our text here

tonight has escorted us through the halls of time and

once again brought our attention to the tale of two

quarrelling mothers, namely Sarah and Hagar, neither of which are

innocent or blameless. Amen. You remember the Hebrew matriarch Sarah

had become impatient in her waiting for the promise of

a son. Brother Nathaniel preached Amen about that that matriarch, Amen,

trying to press or trying to force the will of God.

This morning, here's yet Amen, another one that tried to

do the same thing. She had become impatient with the

promise of a son by God because God had told

Abraham that he would that he would bring give Abraham

a son. And Sarah had just become real impatient there,

and she gave to Abraham her Egyptian servant or slave

named Hagar, that she might give Abraham the child that

he was promised. And this was not a far fetched

thing in this Bible time for women to do that.

You can remember. You can remember throughout scripture where there

were certain times whenever women would give their servant or

their handmaid to their husband so that he would have

more children and more sons to name. I remember Rachel

and Leo would give. I believe one of them was Billa,

and I forgot the other one. But they gave to

Jacob their their handmaids, and he had more sons through them.

So Sarah had kind of done the same thing here,

but she was doing it not just that Abraham would

have more sons, but she was trying to bring about

the will of God, and she was trying to bring

about the plan of God in Abraham's life, and she

was trying to bring the promised child that God had

promised to Abraham. In chapter number sixteen of the same book.

Here the in Genesis we find of Hagar's attitude towards

toward her mistress Sarah. When she realizes that she's carrying

Abraham's child a man. When she realizes she's carrying the

child of this great man, her attitude changes, and her

demeanor changes, and and the way the way she talks

to Sarah changes. She just she was. She was just

Sarah's handmaid. She was just Sarah's servant. She was a nobody.

She was there when Miss Sarah said, go do this.

Then Hagar said yes, ma'am. When Hagar whenever Sarah warned

something and she told Hagar, go do this. That's all

that Hagar was was just a little servant. But when

she realized that she was, that she had in her

womb the son of a great Ma'am. When she realized

that she had conceived of Abraham, her attitude changes there

from a from a and she no longer has the

attitude of a and she no longer has the attitude

of a bondwoman. And I was surprised that Sarah had

given Hagar to Abraham to be his wife. Ay man,

it was I don't and I would have to search

it the scriptures more to to really realize if if

when Sarah did that, she gave up her servant her

servant rights. Maybe whenever she gave Abraham as a wife,

maybe Hagar was no longer a slave. I don't think

that was the case. But nevertheless, Sarah gave Hagar to

be Abraham's wife, and she became the mother to Abraham's child.

Now this slave or this servant woman now feels superior

to Sarah. She now she feels like that she's on

a higher level than Sarah is because Sarah was barn

Sarah could not bring forth a child, and now she

has done that, and now she feels like she has

surpassed Sarah, and she's greater than Sarah. And now she

feels like she can look down on Sarah, and she,

no doubt, she no doubt began to treat Sarah differently

than when she did whenever she was first her servant. Amen.

So this is why I say that neither Sarah or

Hagar are innocent in this quarreling, in this going back

and forth, and in this jockey and for position. Amen,

that neither would because Sarah had forced the will, tried

to force the will of God. Might I say, and Hagar,

whenever she realized what had happened, then her attitude changed

and she became a different woman. Amen. In chapter number

twenty six, closer to our text, Abraham puts in chapter

number twenty one, rather closer to our text, Abraham puts

on a feast to celebrate the weaning of his longer

waited promise by Sarah. Because now, Amen, now the promise

has come forth. Now now after Sarah has made the

mistake that she made, and and and Ishmael is now

running around. Now Sarah actually brings the promised child into

the world, and and God's promise is fulfilled in their life.

And Abraham puts on a feast to celebrate the weaning

of this child. Then he's celeb and he puts on

a feast to celebrate the long awaited promise by Sarah,

his wife. And during the festivities there, during the festivities there,

Hagar and Ishmael was no doubt in attendance. They no

doubt attended the ceremony or whatever took place the big feast.

They were there with all the crowd and all the

all the people that were there celebrating Isaac. And they

were there. And during the festivity, Sarah catches eyes with Ishmael,

and she sees Ishmael mocking the the child. There she

sees Ishmael mocking Isaac, or mocking the festivities, or or

she just realizes that Ishmael didn't have the right attitude

that she thought he should have. And I wonder where

he learned that from. Brother Nathaniel mentioned that this morning,

and I had this in my notes already, but in

verse number six, in chapter number sixteen, I already talked

about it. Hagar had become a new woman, and Hagar

had begun despising Sarah. The Bible said, Hagar despised Sarah

after she realized what was taking place in her body,

after she realized who she had become, after she realized

the status that she had just received, she became a

different woman, and she began despising Sarah. The Bible said,

Hagar when she saw that she had conceived her mistress

was despised in her eyes. So Sarah had been come

despised in Hagar's eyes because she felt like she was someone.

So I just have to believe that Ishmael learned that

molcking and Ismael learned that despising attitude from his mama

because he had seen how Hagar had talked about Sarah

that he had seen how Hagar had talked about Isaac,

that he had picked up on those trades, and he realized,

if Mollikan do it, then I can do it. Heymen,

I think that's where Ishmael learned it. Brother Nathaniel mentioned

it this morning. Few children are taking up after us,

few children are walking in our footsteps. These children are

following our path, the waath of relay and the wreath

of relieve. We've got little ones following behind us, and

they're watching us, and they're learning from us. Ishmael learned

from Hagar, and Sarah sees Ishmael mocking promised child, marking

the festivities, marking the party, and Sarah at this point

she's already I don't the scripture, don't record it, but

I believe that that it was. It was those those

few years between Ishmael's birth and and Isaac's weaning. I

believe it was a rocky time in the life of

Sarah and Hagar. Hey Man, you you remember that.

I believe it was was us, Rachel and Leah that

was kind of fighting for Jacob's love there writing, and

Leah felt like she would be she would be loving

more than Rachel because she couldn't have children.

And I think kind of the same thing was going

on here in the life of Sarah and Hagar, as

they were kind of fighting for Abraham's love and fighting

for Abraham's respect. Way about in Ishmael learned the ways

of that. Just just this disc if you will, and

he had learned the ways of his mother. Amen and

Sarah fighting and bickering and fussing because they were despised

in each other's eyes. Amen. Sarah here reaches her tipping

point and she goes to Abraham as she requests Abraham

to send Hagar and Ishviel away. Sarah can take it

no more. She's had all she can take, and she

tells Abraham, you gotta send her away. I can't have this,

this child taking the inheritance of my child, the promised child.

But it was your mistake, Sarah, but steal, Abraham. I

can't take this. I've had all I can take. I

took all that I can and it's time for them

to go. It's time for them to the part. Amen, Sir,

Abraham's not help you about it. We read it in

our text because he did love Ishmael. Amen, he loved Ishbel,

He loved his firm born son. Amen. Even though it

was kind of uh not, it was definitely not the

plan of God. Still Abraham loved that child that God

had given him. And Abraham said, and God told Abraham,

go ahead and listen to Sarah, go ahead and do

what she said, go ahead and send Hagar, and go

ahead and send Ishmael away. But I'm still gonna make

of him a great nation because of who he is,

because of whose son he is, Abraham, just because he's

your son, He's still gonna have a he's still gonna

be a great man, and he's still gonna be a

great nation. And you know, many a kingdoms have come

against Ishmael, many people, many kings, and many many wars

have happened where people are trying to take Ishmael out

and they can't. Amen. He's still got a promise from

God on him that he will stand until God says

it's time. Amen. So we read after Abraham, here's from God.

Very early in the morning. He wastes no time. And

once he got the ok from God, and once he

got the orders from headquarters, as he all saying goes,

he got up early in the morning, and he gathers

some bread, and he gets some water together, and he

puts it in a bottle, and he sends Hagar and

Ishmael out into the wilderness. He sends the longtime slave

of Sarah into the wilderness of Beersheba, and they begin

to wander around. Haygard didn't know where she was going.

Heygard didn't know what to do. She didn't have any

idea of what to do, or where to go or

tough to call along. All she knew that Abraham had

told me. You told her you gotta get out. The

time's come where you gotta leave. Mama's not happy no more.

Mama's not okay anymore because of the mocking, and because

of it, it's sizing. You've gotta get out now. It's

high for you to leave. So Hagar and Ishmael, no doubt,

with tears in their eyes, and Abraham with tears in

his eyes. They said, son, I'm sorry, I don't understand

it fruly, but I do, because God said it's time.

Abraham loved is Ishmael there, and no doubt he loved

Hagar as well. They had been together for years. Amen.

But they said, it's time for you to go. And

I really don't know if Hagar and Ishmael realized their

dire situation when Abraham first came to them and informed

them that they would no longer be living within the

camp with the blessings of God. I don't know. Maybe

they did, but maybe they didn't. But whenever Abraham said

it's time for you to go, their situation got dire

as soon as Abraham said, it's time for you to go.

And all I'm giving you is a little bit of

water and I'm giving you a little bit of bread.

But Abraham, you have all these flocks. But Abraham, you

have all these herds, and Abraham, God's blessed you so much.

And all I'm kidding is a little bit of water

and a little bit of bread. Well, I don't know

saying that, Hey, God, but it's time for you to go.

It's time for you to take a look and go

find your way in the wilderness. Hagard israel situation was terrible.

At that moment. All they had was a bottle of water.

All they had was some bread. Abraham had been blessed,

Abraham had the blessings of God upon his life, and

Hagard had raised her son in the lap of riches.

Abraham had raised his her son in the house of Abraham.

The men of God the wrong that God said, this

is my man, That's what this food grew up in.

Is foul grew up in a camp where they had

plenty to eat. This fool grew up in a camp

where they had plenty to drink. And now all I've

got it was a little bottle of water, and all

I've got is a little bit of bread. Hey, Gord

and Israel had no doubt drank water from the wells

of Abraham's servants. I don't think Ishman was pretty young

at this time yet, But I don't think it for

whatever went out there and learned how to dig a well.

Because Daddy had so many servants. I don't think this

one had ever learned how to hunt a deer, ay

man or some kind of wilderness wilderness bird amen, because

Daddy had so many servants, and everything he ever knew

that was just given to him, and everything he ever

wrot it was just kill, I told him. And now

he finds himself having a walk away from Dad's camp.

Hagard was nothing but a slave when she met Sarah.

When she began traveling with Abraham, she was nothing but

a slave. And in process of time, as God began

to bless Abraham and he had become big, and he

had he had begun to bless Abraham, and Abraham had

begun to get growing in the grace of God, then

Hagard knew what it was like to climb that ladder. Amen.

If she was yet a servant, then she knew what

it was to be one of the well most well

taken care of servants, because she was the servant of

Miss Sarah and mister Abraham. So she was a pauper

when she met Abraham and Sarah, no doubt. And now

she finds herself in the same state as she was in.

Now she's took a big backslide, and she's went all

the way back to where she's started, and may be

worse than she's ever been. Because even as a slave,

they would at least have something to eat, and even

as a slave, they would have at least somewhere to

leave their head at night and to feel a little

bit of sense of safety. But now she's just outing

a great big wilderness, and she don't know what to

do now she's just wandered around, so she has really

slid back, and she's less now than she's ever been.

Sarah and Hang are now seemingly nobody, in the middle

of a great big desert, in the middle of a

great big wilderness. Nobody cared, nobody knew, nobody knew where

they was. For him had said it was time to go.

And if they didn't know what a blessing it was

to dine at Mama Sarah's table, if they didn't know

how what a blessing it was to grab that cup

of water and lift it to their lips as a slave.

But this one was not a slave. This one was

a son a man. And if he didn't realize what

a blessing it was for him to be able to

walk up the daddy's well and grab a coat on,

i's cold glass of that water that well and stick

it to his list, by now he does. By now

he realizes what kind of shape he's in. By now

he gonna starting to realize the real role setting in.

I'm not in the tenser avor him no more. I'm

not in the camp with the great Man of God anymore.

Now I'm out here in the wilderness. Now I'm out here,

no no matter here and no bread. This is a

mother's day. And there's a lot of times that we

take for granted the amenities of mama's house. There's a

lot of times as young men where we take for granted.

Get those clothes who're just gonna be stacked up in

a laundry basket, all nice and folded, and set my

ur redroom door. Amen. I don't know if your mama

folds your folded, folds your clothes or not, but my

mama did, Amen. And most of the time she just

fowed them up, get them all nous and clean for me,

get them in a great big laundry basket, and just

see him right there on the door. And all I

had to do was go grab the basket, take it

in my room, and seek it in my drawers. Amen.

When I was smart about it, I didn't get I

didn't move out of mom and Dad's un until I

got married. Amen. I could have I had my house

a few months before I got married. Amen. But I

was smart and I just stayed right there at mom

and Dad's house because I realized the blessings Amen of

pulling my chair up to mama's table. Heymen, I realized

the blessing of just going in the fridge anytime and

pulling out that container and left over us anytime I

wanted it because Mamma had been on the shove. Amen.

I realized that I could just go to my dresser

and pull out that work shirt anytime I wanted because

Mama had been in the ladgery room. Here. Don't come

a time when you don't get that. Amen. We gotta

be grateful and thankful for what Mama does. We gotta

buy nurse. You say I should preach on spiritual things, Well,

this is pretty close to spiritual, but this is Mother's Day,

and I think we ought to be grateful and thankful

for the mothers that God gave us. Amen. We just

take for granted that there's gonna be a meal on

the table. Brother Caleb was smart too. He moved out

of Mama's house and said, Grandma, you want to move in.

That's a smart man, Amen, But there's a lot of

things that we take for granted, and you don't realize

it until you don't have it. You say, where does

this tie in? While you have him? And paid attention

to what I've been saying, hey, God probably didn't. I

don't know. Maybe she did. But when she got in

the rareriness, when she went without, Brother Dylan probably knows

what I'm talking about. When do you get in the

wilderness when you don't have it, then that's when you

really understand the blessing there was. If hey, God didn't

realize it, well she sure does now because now she's

missing out on all of that good stuff we take

for granted, the washing of the clothes and the cooking

of the meals and the cleaning of the house. Amen.

We don't really realize it or appreciate it correctly until

we don't have it, until it's not there anymore. Her

young pastor one time told me, and this is I

thought it was kind of funny, But a young pastor

told me one time that brother Russell McDonald was come

by it come come by his church and he was

preaching for him, and uh, he told him. He told

the congregation, the young pastor's congregation. He said, Yeah, this

young pastor right here, he's got it made in the shade,

all expense paid, drinking pink lemonade. Amen. Sometimes that's who

we are. We don't realize it. Amen. Sometimes we had

it made in the shade and we didn't realize it.

We never realized, trust how easy it was. We're just

how good it was until we don't have it. Amen.

And if you ever have you ever heard somebody and

if you grew up in church and you have a

good attitude and you have a good mouth, and then

and you don't go and work and you act like

the devil, there was a good chance that one of

your coworkers has told you, man, I can tell you

lived a sheltered life. I've heard that so many times. Oh,

you live a sheltered life. I can tell you just

lived a sheltered life. I did live a sheltered life,

and I thank God for it. Is that supposed to

be an insultant, hey man, Because if it was supposed

to be one, I sure ain't taking it that way,

because I know the things that my parents sheltered me from,

because I know the things that my mama prayed away

from me, and to know the things that my dad

prayed away from me. And I know I lived a

sheltered life, and I thank God for it. I appreciate

a sheltered home, sheltered from the winds, of this world,

sheltered from the things of the hurt and the pain

and the sorrow of this world. I thank God for that.

A lot of us here today were blessed to live

under the shelter of a godly mother praying for us

and shielding us from the broken heart and the pain

and the suffering that many in this world face. Heymen,

there's a lot of us that lived in homes, and

we grew up in sheltered homes. And God used our parents, Amen,

as that little hen Amen that our cotext there in

the book of Matthew as God was talking about Jerusalem,

and God used that motter. Hey, God used that's all

to open up those rings. Had to provide a shelter

for us, had to desight to provide a safe haven

for us. Amen, There's a lot of us that lived

in a sheltered, sheltered atmosphere thanks to our godly mothers

and fathers, Sheltered from the broken homes, sheltered from all

the hatred, sheltered from the peaceless nights through no sleep

because our parents were in the next room fighting. I

don't know what that's about, and I thank God for it.

Maybe I don't know what it's like to hear my

dad and my mom with their verses rings hording and

screaming and one another. Because I've been sheltered. I've been

sheltered by His grace, captain us safety face, protected by

the prayers of those who sought His face. We've been

sheltered by the grace of God and by Bible believing,

praying mothers and fathers. David said there in Psalms chapter

number ninety one, he that dwelleth in the secret place

of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of

the Almighty. That sounds like a sheltered place to me.

Hey man, that sounds like a safe haven to me.

What a privilege it is for us that lived in

those environments, that lived in those homes. And I'm not

throwing down on anybody that wasn't, but I'm preach it

to a houseful of young people that were. Hey man,

we've lived in a house where we can look around

and we can realize though it may not have been perfect,

although you'd be hard to convince me that mine wasn't. Amen,

but you might look at your household it say well,

it was good, but it wasn't perfect, but still we've

been sheltered. But still you've got something to thank God about.

That's something that care enough for you to at least

try to shelter something. What a privilege to look and

realize that we've lived under the shadow of the Almighty

because Mama and Dad knew how to find a secret place.

David said, he that dwells in the secret place. You

knew how to be sheltered. You knew how to dwell

under the shadow, find the secret place. Our parents found

the secret place. We were sheltered. We were under the

shadow of the Almighty because Mama and Daddy went to

the secret place, because mam and Dad went to the

prayer closet and they prayed for us. There ever comes

a time when we leave the sheltered environment of our

parents' home like his sword did. If there ever comes

a time where we get out from under Abraham's wings,

and we get out from under Sarah and Abraham's householder

with their little camp, and we leave that sheltered environment

and we find ourselves in the wilderness of this life,

he will be imported that we are able to find

the same refuge for ourself. Hey man, it's important for

us to learn how mom and Dad gave us the

sheltered environment. It'll be important for us to learn how

mom and Dad's shot was a shadow from the sun,

ay Man. They will be important for us to learn

how to get in the secret place. So there are

little ones and ourselves can find us in the shadow.

We can find ourselves in the shelter and in the shade.

In verse number fourteen and fifteen of our text, hey

Gard and Ishmael now find themselves out in the wilderness

on their own. And they no longer are in the

tents of Abraham. They're no longer experiencing the blessings of Abraham.

But now they're wandering under the beating son of the wilderness.

They're wondering there in the wilderness of Beersheba, and the

water's all gone, and the bread's all gone, and now

Hegard don't know what to do. Haygard don't know where

to turn, and she don't know where to go. And

the brady little boy Ishmael had learned his mama's ways,

the brady little boy that what's mocked. He now realizes

just how blessed he was, that little boy that once

mocked Sarah and once mocked the Isaac. Now his mind

can go back and remember how blessed Isaac still is,

and Hagar can remember how blessed Sarah still is. He

realizes how blessed he was while living in the shelter

and the provision of Abraham. Abraham had provided tense and

a safe place away from the sun, a way to

escape the desert heat, a way to find shelter from

the burning sun. As they walked around the sun out

on the sand, and the sun beat down upon them,

and Heygard, it hurt us stress with no water or

no food. She takes this with the point of death.

Is for now, is at the point of death. She's

done all she can. She can't do nothing else. She

can't help him no more. She's done all she can.

He ever felt that way. I'm sure there has been

a few mothers that felt that way, felt like Hegar.

I have nothing else to give him, I have nothing

else to do for them. I don't know what else

to do. Heygar finds herself in this place, no water,

no food. She takes Ishmael and she puts him under

the shrubs in the wilderness. She finds a little shade

for the man, for the young boy. She finds a

little shelter from the heat, Amen, and she takes Ishmael

at the point of death, and she places him under

the shade, and she places him under the shadow of

the shrub, Amen, hoping that maybe he just find a

little relief and hope, and then maybe he'd find just

a little bit of shade away from the beating something. Amen.

Sometimes mothers help must feel that way when they've done

all they can, when they feel like they're what they

can do is limited, and they just realize that they

can't do nothing else, and they just got to find

a shady place, and they've gotta find a shove of

the place of safety. And they just put the child

under the shade, under the shrub and they just said,

I've gotta let God handle it from here. It's out

of my hands. God, there's nothing else I can do.

They've left the tents of Abraham, they walked away from

the shelter of Abraham. Here there's nothing else I can do.

But Heygard found out in verse number seventeen that God

knew where the little boy was, that she had committed

to the shade that little child, that She was just

looking for a little bit of relief for him. She

loved that boy. You say she didn't love him, she

left him there to die. No, she loved him so

much that she couldn't stand to sit there and watch

that boy suffer like that. She had all she could

take of seeing it is full suffer, and she said,

I can't take it no more. There's nothing else I

can do. Haygard found out in verse number seventeen that

God knew where the shade was, and God knew where

the shelter was, and God knew where Hagar had putish Man.

Hagar found out that God would visit her son as

he laid there in the shade of the shrub. God

would visit them. They would raise them up once again

and do a wonderful miracle in their life. Life wasn't

over for Hagar, it felt like he was. For Hagard,

she felt like she had done all she could do,

and she committed him to the shade. She committed him

to the only shelter that she could find when her

wish you felt like she couldn't give him no more.

Whif you felt like her shelter right out hen she

just found the all shout there around and she said, God,

it's all God, DoD's our house. Had I just committed

to you, Man, I just kidding, and I just trust you.

I told you my inspiration. Inspiration came for this message

Saturday morning. Amen. Saturday morning, I was driving westbound on

State Roade eighty between Label and Alpha, just a little

bit before eight am. We were taking our brand new

little baby girl that God blessed us with for her

two day appointment, her two day check up to see

the pediatrician, just to make sure. And everything was still

looking good. And then everything was still going okay. And

I had to go clear to the other side of

Fort Myers, Amen, on the west side of Fort Myers,

and I was coming there between Label and Alva, and

I was headed west on State Rhode eighty. And I

looked to my right there in the in the uh

cal pasture, and my wife will probably remember me saying, Lord,

is that you Amen? Because I just felt the word

whispering to my heart. Amen, And I in this message

began to work on me in And I didn't have

a text, and I didn't have a title, but I

looked to my right and I seen what seemed to

me to be a little black angus heifer calf Amen.

And she standing out there in that field as the

sun was rising up on the east, Aymen, I'm sure

it was a beautiful sunrise on when in West Palm Beach,

Amen on the eastern coast. And as that sun was

coming up, I passed by this little cow, and I

looked in the field and I seen this cow, and

the sun was cast in a westward shadow from that tree.

And that little calf was standing not close to the

stump of that tree, not directly under the tree, but

that little calf was standing about ten feet behind that

tree where that big shade was being cast from that sun. Amen.

If she had been too close, the only shadow that

was there was the trunk. But she stepped back to

wear that big beautiful limbs of that old tree was

branching out, causing just this beautiful shade I'd ever seen

in my life. And I know it was a little

before eight, so the sun probably wasn't too hot yet,

hey man. But this was a young calf, or a

young cow rather, And I realized that that cow knew

the importance of being on the right side of the tree,

hey Man. And I felt like the Lord began talking

to me about the importance of the shade and about

the importance of the shelter. Hey, God knew the importance

of the shelter. That little cow knew that that son

that was beating down, what's gonna get hot. It's gonna

get hot. It might not be hot right now, but

it's gonna be hot that if I can get into shade.

I forget what they say the shade is, but it's

a reasonable reasonable amount cooler in the shade than it

is in the direct sunlight. I want to say it's

ten to fifteen degrees. It's what they would say most

of the time in the shade versus in the direct sunlight.

And that little cow knew where she needed to stand.

That little cow realized that if I'm gonna be sheltered

from this beaten sun, if I'm gonna find shelter from

this sun that's gonna be beaten on me, then I've

gotta get in the shade. Then I've got to get

in the portion of the tree to find protection from

the sun. And I realized Saturday yesterday, I realized that

the Cross of Calvary cast a shadow of shelter from

this old word. Then I realized that the cross of

Calfrey stands so tall, and it's sand so shrong, and

it cast a shade between us and this world. When

the sun shines on us, when the world beats on us,

when we feel like we're in the wilderness, when we

feel like, hey, God, and we we've gone nowhere to turn.

If we get on the right side of the tree,

if we get on the right side of the cross,

then we'll find shelter. Then we'll find shelter from this world.

In the shadow of the cross, We'll find shelter from

the sun. The cow realized that it mattered which side

of the tree she stood on. Hegar knew to find

a shelter for Ishmael, to prolong Ishmael's life as long

as possible. She found to protect him from the direct

sun rays and the direct sunbeams. Heygar understood the importance

of shelter. Our parents understood the importance of staying in

the shelter of the cross. Our parents realize the importance

of raising us on the right side of the tree.

If you will, amen, we have a lot of young

parents here, and I count myself in that crowd. Amen.

I'm only only twenty eight here, and I've gotta understand

the importance. Hey maen Ay, we have to understand the

importance of raising our children on the right side of

the cross. Amen. We've gotta understand the importance of finding

that sea place, Amen, that we may twell in the

shadow of the Almighty. When David fled from Saul, he

understood he needed a shelter, and he needed a safe place,

and he needed a safe haven. And our brother read it.

I do believe Brother Nathaniel read it. Psalms, chapter number

fifty seven, first number one. David pin these words, be

merciful unto me, O, God, be merciful unto me. For

my soul trusteth in the Yay, in the shadow of

out wings. Will I make my refuge until these calamities

be overpassed. If we're going to withstand the calamities of

this world, if we're gonna stand with stand the storms

of this life, when we've got to understand, then we've

got to realize the importance of dwelling in the shadow,

under the shadow of the Almighty. When David found himself

at goodness, stand with me tonight when David found himself

in the fight of his life when the odds were

stacked against him, when the odds were not in his favor.

He knew that if he could find that, he knew

that he could find a refuge in the shadow of God.

The only relief Heygark could find for Ishmond was the

shade of the shrub. The only relief that we can

find for ourselves and for our children, We'll be under

the shadow of the Almighty. Heygar couldn't find no food.

Heygar's eyes were blinded to the water, to the well

that was before her. She couldn't find water, and she

couldn't find food. But Heygar said, one thing I can do.

I can provide a little shelter. One thing I can

do is I can give ish for just a little

bit of just a little bit of relief from this

beaten sun. One thing we can do parents, is we

can give our children. We can't promise them everything in

this world. We can't promise them everything that they may want.

But one thing Haygard found out that she could do,

and Heygar found out the only thing she needed to

do was find a little bit of shelter for that

little boy. Find a little bit of shade, but under

the tree. When Hagar put her under the shrub, there,

the Angel met her there. If you put them in

the shade of the tree, if you put those little

ones under the shadow of the Almighty, God will meet

you there. God will meet us there. Amen. All we

gotta do is just try to find a little bit

of shelter from this world, find a little shade from

this world. Could we pray this evening? Hey man, I

want to make sure that as a parent, that I

provide the shelter from this wicked world that I need to,

and that I'll provide the shelter from this wicked world

that I knew, and I'll just let God take care

of the rest. I'll just let God meet me there,

and I'll just let God meet them there, aymen, in

that place of shelter where I have committed them,