Hagar, part 3

This beautiful story should be a reminder to us all that God seeks those who are running away from their disappointments or who have been cast aside, discarded because they feel forgotten by heaven and earth.

“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. ¹² 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.” ¹³ She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seenthe One who sees me.” ¹⁴ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. ¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.” (Genesis 16 v11-16)

God sought and found Hagar. She was on the road to Shur, heading back home to Egypt.

Hagar, the runaway slave, is now given a promise about her son to be born. It is a prophecy that he will have what his mother hasn’t had: freedom and an independence unhindered by anyone, even though at odds with those around him. He would live a life of struggle, born not into a world of his choosing.

Hagar, the Egyptian woman, a slave, someone running away, seems to be the first person in the Scriptures who gives God a name based on her experience and encounter of Him. God – El Roi, the God who sees me. A well was named in remembrance of this encounter between the God of the universe and an unwanted nobody named Hagar.

It wasn’t Adam or Eve, Noah or Abraham, who first gave God a name based on their encounter with Him. It was this slave girl who realised God sees her and gives her son the name, Ishmael, as He told her, for He also hears her.

Maybe arriving at a place where you feel unseen and unheard is the very place where God will meet you? Perhaps we have to come to our very end for God to give us a new beginning?

Hagar’s life was quite a mess. But God doesn’t wait for it to be sorted out. He found her on the desert road, and He will find you, no matter where you are today, for He is a God who sees you and hears you, your pain and your hopes. You may be crying out to Him; He has heard you. You are not unknown to Him. You are not forgotten.