Do you ever feel used and tossed aside? A young woman named Hagar certainly knew how that felt.
Hagar was a slave. She served her mistress, Sarai, faithfully. She did whatever Sarai asked and even got to where she could anticipate her every need.
However, Hagar never anticipated the day Sarai would ask her … well, no … actually direct her … to sleep with Abram, Sarai’s husband.
Hagar was shocked and perhaps reluctant. But Sarai assured her it would be all good. Sarai had been unable to conceive a child.
She believed perhaps Hagar could be her surrogate. In fact, to make everything legal and above board, she wanted Hagar to marry Abram.
Hagar did as she was told. She became Abram’s second wife and slept with him.
Sure enough, Hagar conceived. But she did not see herself as Sarai’s surrogate. She saw herself as the law said she was — Abram’s wife.
Perhaps by then, Hagar actually loved Abram. Perhaps she cherished the thought of the family they would have together — a circle of love that did not include her task maker mistress, Sarai.
We don’t know what words actually passed between them, but Sarai did not like Hagar’s attitude. She complained to Abram..
When he seemed unconcerned, Sarai gave him an ultimatum that came down to forcing him to choose between his two wives.
“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.”
Genesis 16:6
Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
Genesis 16:6
Sarai had cooked up what she thought was a solution to her infertility. It had backfired on her. She was furious.
Hagar may have developed an attitude in going from the position of a slave to the honored position of a wife, now pregnant and ready to raise her husband’s children.
But Sarai seemed to have had the last word. She mistreated Hagar so badly, Hagar fled.
Hagar was all alone by a spring of water when the angel of The Lord came to her.
He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
Genesis 16:8
How would you have responded to this greeting? He called her by name, but he clearly attached her name to her identity as a slave. Hagar was a slave. As such she had responsibilities.
It was true she had been used. It was true she had been mistreated. Life did not seem fair. She waned to escape the life she was in. But she was more than a slave. She was now a wife and the mother of Abram’s child.
Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
Genesis 16:9
Go back and submit to Sarai? How could this possibly be good?
It was good because God had a plan, not only for Hagar, but also for Sarai and Abram … and for Hagar’s son.
The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
Genesis 16:10
The angel then told Hagar to name her son Ishmael. He told her he would live a life of conflict and would not get along with his brothers.
God established His Covenant with Abram through his son, Isaac, who was born through Sarai years later. But He blessed Ishmael, as he promised Abram he would.
God told Abram, “I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.’
Genesis 17:20
We do not know how Hagar and Sarai worked out their differences. But Hagar’s Words still stand today as her testimony.
She gave this name to The Lord Who spoke to her: “You are The God Who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen The One Who sees me.”
Genesis 16:13
You may believe you are alone in your suffering. You may believe no one sees how unfair your life has become.
You may think there is nothing left to do but run. But the truth of the matter is you have no where to go.
Know this. He Who created you sees you. He always has. He always will. He cares about every detail of your life. He is ready to guide you to The Plan He has for you.
It is a Good Plan. He promised and He always keeps His Promises.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares The Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future!”
Jeremiah 29:11
“I have now seen The One Who sees me.”
Genesis 16:13
