Into the desert Hagar fled ... desperate, hurting, and ALONE. Ahhh . . . but we quickly discover that our distraught sister, Hagar, only thought she was alone!
The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. Genesis 16:7
Had Hagar run away to look for the Lord?No.
Hagar had grown up in Egypt surrounded by many pagan gods. Idolatry had been her way of life. The fact that the Lord found her on the road to Shur is a pretty good geographical indication that she was headed back to Egypt as fast as her two legs would carry her. I would think the last thing she would have expected as a runaway Egyptian slave was to encounter the Lord. To her, the mysterious God Abraham and Sarah claimed to follow was THEIR god. Not the god of an Egyptian maidservant!
Hagar was not looking for God - BUT - God was looking for Hagar. She had never left His watchful eye. The intention of the way verse 7 is worded assures us that God sought Hagar.
That's so precious to me! God always takes the initiative. No matter where we run, we are not outside His sight. He seeks the ones who stray. When we are faithless, He is faithful. I cannot even tell you how many times that has been true in my own life!
How do you suppose Hagar felt when she heard the voice of the Lord - and He called her by name? Do you think she glanced over her shoulder to make sure He wasn't seeking someone else? Aren't we like that sometimes? Don't we have difficulty imagining that God would have a grand revelation for us alone? We have no problem believing He would speak to our pastor. Or Beth Moore. Or Kay Arthur. Or maybe our Sunday School teacher. Or perhaps our Bible study leader. But us? A specific revelation for us alone??
"And he said, 'Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?'" Gen. 16:8
Wait a minute. Isn't God all-knowing (omniscient)? YES! Then why did He ask her where she came from and where she was going? Surely He knew. Yes. Of course, He did! Dear sisters, God often initiates encounters with us by asking some hard questions. It's for OUR benefit, not His.
Often we need to stop and identify what's going on before we continue on a path outside His will. Remember when Elijah was so weary from spiritual battle that he curled up under a juniper tree just wishing he could die? God asked, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" [1 Kings 19:9] Do you remember Jesus asking Mary Magdalene, "Woman, why are you crying?" [John 20:15]
Sometimes God asks us hard questions simply to make us stop - look - and listen.
- STOP focusing on our sense of despair.
- LOOK at the truth of our circumstance.
- and LISTEN to what He wants us to do.
Genesis 16:9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her."
WHOA!!! GO BACK?? SUBMIT??? These were strong imperative words. Commands. Not suggestions! OUCH! Hardly an easy command. Hardly an ideal situation! But GOD ordained. And that, my sisters, is what makes the difference. God may sometimes call us to stay (or go back to) a less than ideal situation. He may ask us to remain in a place that is difficult for us. But it is always because He has a plan and purpose for our lives that is far bigger than the immediate circumstance that has absorbed our focus.
Would our Egyptian sister, Hagar - a Gentile - heed the words of the God of Abraham? Before she could even protest, the Lord offered her a brighter future than she could ever have imagined. Isn't it wonderful that God not only sees what we are (He saw exactly what she was - and called her, "Hagar, slave of Sarai ..") but He sees what we can become! Isn't it wonderful that God doesn't just see our abilities but also our possibilities!
The angel added, "I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count." The angel of the Lord also said to her: "You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers." Genesis 16:10-12
Do you realize that our sister, Hagar, was the first woman in scripture to be given a divine promise of descendants? And the ONLY woman who received the promise directly from God?
Do you see what this promise means? When God revealed this prophesy about Hagar's descendants, He was fully aware that she would become the mother of another religion. God knew the Ismaelites would exist as surely as the Israelites!
It wasn't until the 7th century AD that Mohammed's disciples emerged as the religion of Islam. Ishmael's pedigree lent legitimacy to the new faith but the Koran never mentions Hagar's name. The Bible, however, includes the name of Hagar 15 times and today she has become a symbol of downtrodden women who persevere.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out! Romans 11:33
God had promised Abraham to bless his seed. Now Abraham's seed was carried within the womb of a runaway Egyptian slave - but God would still keep His promise. Not because Abraham was worthy. Not because Sarah was worthy. And not because Hagar was worthy. But because of the vastness of the grace of God perfectly expressed in the words we know so well: "For God so loved the world . . ." Not just the part of the world that looks and sounds like we do - but the whole world!
Hagar heeded the word of the Lord and returned to her mistress but not before she did something unparalleled in scripture. Hagar gave God a name. No other person in the Old Testament, male or female, ever does such a thing. Only Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant.
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: "You are El Roi - the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. Genesis 16:13-14
The name she gave the Lord became attached to the place where they met, a spot where both water and mercy flowed in abundance.
El Roi - the God who sees
- He sees when no one else cares to look
- He sees through the smile we wear when we are dying inside
- He sees our hurt when we are mistreated
- He sees us cry into our pillow because we feel unloved
- He sees beyond our sin into the depth of our need
- He sees when we are hiding
- He sees when we are running
God saw Hagar. And Hagar saw God. She had fled the tents of Abraham feeling unseen, unheard and unloved. Now she returned, heeding God's commands, having been seen - and heard - and loved - by One far greater than Abraham or Sarah. One who called her (and her unborn child) by name and let her know He had a plan for her life that involved hope and a future.
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