God Who Sees And Hears

Can you recall some Egyptians names in the Bible?

Egyptian civilization had a greater culture than Greek and Romans, where women enjoyed the importance.

Let’s take a look into the life of Hagar. She was an Egyptian who was taken from the palace of Pharaoh-Gen 12:1. She did her job for ten years without notice. She had no option other than to raise Sarah’s child and was not asked of her opinion but to accept.

From a princess -to a Slave – to a wife -she flees to a well and encounters God -she gets land and many descendants. God appeared twice and spoke to her in spite of the fact that she was not an Israelite.

Let’s look into Hagar’s life in Genesis chapters 16 and 21.

We can make a note that there are two depressing and one encouraging side in Hagar’s life.

Negative side in Hagar’s life: 1. She was emotionally deserted  2.She was spiritually hurt. Positive side: She was deeply loved by God.

 How was Hagar emotionally deserted?

Hagar was never the first priority in anyone’s life. No one counted on her and thought of her feelings, even the father of the child she was carrying.

Pharaoh gifted Hagar to Abraham. Sarah gave her to Abraham to bear a son, because of the fight between Sarah and Hagar, Abraham gave her up too.

Abraham was the father of the child, but he never stood by her when she needed him and gave up on her. All the choices in her were what other people wanted.  She was pushed from pillar to post by everyone around her.

How was Hagar Spiritually Wounded?

God made himself known to her through the extended family- Abraham and Sarah.

She learned about God that he created the heavens and earth, what God’s Love was,  how He loved undeserving people, and most importantly how Kind He is.

But then when she saw Abraham and Sarah who turned out to be flawed believers she ran away from Faith and from the house.

How Hagar was Deeply Loved  by God in three glimpses

1.God found the lost Gen 16:7

She was angry and felt unjust but God flipped things over. Gen 16:8

God would have questioned her, ‘Hagar where have you come from? Where are you going?’ (Idols in Egypt )

Are you distancing yourself away from the behavior of people,( Abraham, Sarah), and are you linking yourself with another? Is it the path to heaven?

God’s question awakens Hagar’s conscience.

The enemy may tell you can have a private faith. You may say the church is always fractured but the church is never the hope of the world, only Christ is. If you walk in faith and in obedience, good will follow.

2.God hears the suffering people

Gen16:11- Here it is not mentioned that Hagar prayed. But God hears the cry. 

God does not just hear and respond to the cry of his chosen but also hears the cry of the disheartened, defenseless, and cast out. God told her she will have a son and name him Ishmael.  Every time she called him – she is reminded that God hears!

 3.God Sees all the people Gen 16:13

Hagar obeyed the Lord’s command by going back.  Here for Hagar, obedience is a difficult task as two women can never get along. Unlike every fairy tale endings- ‘ and they lived happily ever after’, she must have made a lot of adjustments.

The Bible speaks to the real world, single mothers, rejected wives, flawed fathers, troubled sons and, perplexed daughters- “My grace is sufficient for you” 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Hagar is the only person in the Bible to name the Lord.  She names him as the well of Living.

I want you to ponder on the following questions

Do you realize that God died for you even when we were yet enemies?

How do we react to our enemies?