The Hard Thing

I was reading the other day in Genesis 16 the story of the complex relationship between Abraham, Sarah and Hagar. Sarah, desperate and unable to conceive child, gave her handmaid to her husband to impregnate in her place (not an uncommon practice at that time). A gestational surrogate, of sorts. Except without the aide of modern technology, and perhaps without Hagar having her own free-willed choice. While I can't imagine going to those measures, I can however be sympathetic towards Sarah's desperation for motherhood. 
Sarah's plan quickly collapsed in on her, though, once Hagar became with child. The void in Sarah's heart quickly evolved into regret, and a seed of bitterness took root. The details of how Sarah proceeded from there are foggy, but includes some sort of confrontation with Hagar in which we're told she "fled from her face". I've always been so distracted by Sarah's severe and harsh choices, that I've truly never been mindful of the position her handmaid was in. She was dehumanized. Simply the means to an end. Given to a marriage of convenience, void of love and care; and then treated poorly because she was a bitter reminder of someone else's pain. Wandering in the wilderness; alone, and carrying within her a child she never even asked to have...and likely feeling....purposeless. 
Then God himself stepped in. 
Whether it was a messenger angel, or God manifesting himself in human form: he reached out to her in her very time of need. And he spoke the words to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself unto her hands." 
Perhaps not the words I would want to hear. "Return." Turn back and face possible rejection, anger,  hurt and betrayal. Indeed, Hagar was asked to do the hard thing.
When it comes to fight or flight, I'm kind of a flight girl, myself. My general instinct is to disengage and escape the confrontation. And while God wasn't requesting of Hagar to necessarily fight, He was insistent that she trust him and do the hard thing by returning back and living out His plan for her life, and that for the life of her unborn child. Full submission. Regardless of how emotionally and physically complicated it was. Because He had a specific plan and purpose that was required of them both.
I have no idea what Hagar's relationship with the Lord looked like. Whether she was in the faith, or just simply out of any other options; Hagar returns home. She birthed her son and continued on with life; the details of what that homecoming looked like are unclear. One can only surmise...
I closed my Bible and quietly pondered these things. How she was asked to do the hard thing. 
And then my mind recalled several other instances where people of the Bible were asked to do the hard thing. 
Abraham, asked to offer his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice - with no explanations or rational understanding as to why. (Did he know, did he have unspeakable assurance that God would stop him from this unbelievable act of obedience just in time?) 
A trembling Moses, sent to the very land he fled from - to face a stubborn king and then lead the Israelites on a treacherous, long journey to their freedom. 
Job - endured physical, emotional and mental hardship after hardship- all sanctioned by God himself. 
A fear-filled Jonah, asked to travel and deliver the gospel to an angry, violent people. 
All ordinary men, asked by God himself to do very extraordinary things...for very specific purposes. 

We are living in such confusing times. There is such an unprecedented, heated political and spiritual climate surrounding us. It's inescapable. While I'm unsure what the future holds, my heart tells me the hard thing may soon be required of us. Our world has shifted in so many ways just in the past few, short years. For the believer, we knew this was going to happen. This has been in the playbook since the beginning. We've been given a small glimpse of what the future holds, and it most certainly doesn't look like an easy road. 
But. 
Like Hagar, Abraham, Moses, Job and Jonah - we have hope. We have the assurance of knowing and trusting the One in control of it all. We have the promise of a future that is far more spectacular than anything this earth can contain. 
May we endure. Flourish. Be refined and strengthened. If we're called to stand and fight for His sake, may we do so in HIS strength and righteousness, not our own. If we're called to be still and remain steadfast, may our hearts be sensitive enough to hear that calling, and humble enough to permit HIS will to conquer that of our own.