1.  Five truths from Genesis 21:1,2 (A.W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis)

-God is in no hurry in working out His plans

-Nothing can hinder or thwart God’s working out His plan

-God is faithful to perform what He as promised (no matter how impossible it seems to us)

-Faith is tried and tested (“A faith that is incapable of enduring trial is no faith at all.”)

-God has set a time for the accomplishing of His will and the fulfilling of His Word.

2.  If you’re going through a desert time in your life (what some describe as a time of “waiting, hoping, longing”):

-take time to grow near to God, grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus

-give yourself to service

-keep up your daily responsibilities

-don’t withdraw, give up, or get locked in self-pity