Focus: Escapism

Text: Gen.16:8

"I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai."

Escapism can mean different things to different people, but from where I stand, escapism is running away from reality using the wrong route. Escapism can be a form of cowardice. Escapism is using false means to handle life's problems. Escapism leads to all kinds of addictions, like taking to alcohol, drugs, free sex, and the likes. It is a kind of occupying oneself with noise or following all the wrong voices in your head.

The truth is that no one can solve his problems by running away from them. David had Goliath to face and defeat, and he did so courageously. He didn't try to escape. He refused to be intimidated by the size and shape of his opponent. The Scripture says, "And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David HASTED, and RAN TOWARD the army to meet the Philistine" (1Sam.17:48). He ran toward the enemy, not away from him. 

Your problems develop into monsters by feeding on your fears. Jesus Christ refused to run away from reality of the cross. He faced it courageously. The Scripture says, "And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he STEDFASTLY SET HIS FACE to go to Jerusalem" (Lk.9:51). The Lord Jesus Christ says to Peter, "Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (Jh.18:11). For Christ, there is no cutting corners or using shortcuts. Christ says, "He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done" (Mt.26:42). It makes no sense trying to avoid the unavoidable. The cross was His sole mission and the reason He came to the earth, and He had to face it.

Hagar felt the best way to tackle or conquer her situation was by running away from it. The Scripture says, "And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face." Her solution was not in fleeing from her mistress, but in fixing herself. She was her own problem. As soon as her status in Sarai's house changed and she was pregnant for Abraham, she threw caution to the wind and treated her mistress with so much disdain and disrespect. The Scripture says, "And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was DESPISED in her eyes." Sarai says to Abraham, "And when she saw that she had conceived, I was DESPISED in her eyes." She looked down on her mistress and treated her like a nobody. So instead of fixing herself and being apologetic about her behavior, she took to her heels. Escapism is not the right way of solving problems.

The angel of God appeared to her and said, "Whence camest thou? And whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai." It is interesting what the angel said to her. He said, "Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands." That is it! She was handling her matter the wrong way. The angel was fixing her and getting her to do the right thing. The angel stopped her from using escapism as a solution. The angel was also fully aware that she was being mistreated by Sarai. The angel says to her, "Behold, thou art with child… and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath HEARD THY AFFLICTION." 

The Lord knows the suffering you are going through in the hands of your bosses. He sees all the insults you are dealt with. He understands the plight that you are facing. He feels your pain and the pressure to quit or escape. The baby in your womb or in your life is a declaration that you still have a future in front of you. It is not over for you. You are carrying your future in your womb.

You can only learn to wield authority by being under authority. Don't run away from your problems; face them squarely! In fact, it is possible that you are your own problem, and yet you are blaming others for your woes. You have been running from yourself all the while, thinking it is others that you are running from. Your rising profile and elevated status should not make you insult, disrespect or humiliate others. Having what others do not have should not make you to look down on them. Don't ruin your relationship with a corky attitude or superiority mentality! Return home with apologies! Live and do right, and stop running away from your shadows or your issues. Escapism cannot cut it for you.

Life teaches that we might succeed in getting what we want, but end up not wanting what we get.

Don't follow the crowd to do wrong! Don't use shortcuts; shortcuts cut short your life! Escapism is truly not an escape route. Escapism escapes nothing. The problems you leave unsolved and the issues you leave unresolved will follow you everywhere you go. Learn to decisively and finally solve a problem, and then move on, or you will keep compounding them and complicating things for yourself! Banish from your life the philosophy or ideology of escapism!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter