Picture this: a pregnant, unwed teenage girl, running into the desert to escape cruelty and abuse. Then, almost two decades later, the same woman and her now teenage son, sent out into the desert by the boy’s father to go anywhere but here. Both times, death is right next to them, breathing his hot breath down their necks.
Both times, she cries out for help. Both times, she and her son are saved. Twice she and her son are given a second chance at life. This woman, named Hagar, is from the Book of Genesis, chapter 16 and 21. She was a servant to Abraham and Sarah and let’s just say, there was a ton of drama around this whole situation. It was a hot mess! It was also a completely different culture, time and place, so we have to consider that fact. But in the end, drama is drama and it can lead to some pretty disastrous circumstances, whether it’s 1600 B.C. or 2019 A.D.
There is a lot to be said about Hagar but I want to focus on the fact that God delivered her, through an angel, not once, but twice. Apart from her household, Hagar had nothing, no standing and no influence. She would have literally been forgotten had she died.
She didn’t die and it was not because she deserved to be saved. She didn’t, as she’d contributed her fair share of ugliness to the situation in Abraham’s house. Her son Ishmael didn’t help either once Isaac, Sarah’s son, was born. We could say like mother, like son and in God’s eyes, that is absolutely true. It didn’t matter if they were good enough to be saved, He saved them both, twice.
God saves when we don’t deserve to be saved. When we believe things may be better without us, God intervenes. When everyone else says we aren’t worth the breath in our lungs, God disagrees. Hagar proves it. Ishmael proves it.
God saves because God is love (1 John 4:16b). Love isn’t just something that God feels towards us. It is the essence of Who He is. It is more than His guiding principle and the kind of Love that Jesus displays on the Cross is evidence that God takes deliverance and salvation very seriously.
Hagar called Him El Roi, which means “The God Who Sees Me.” But He is more than that - He is the God Who knows you. He knows what you are going through. He is Love and Love understands. Love knows immeasurable pain. Love knows the sting of gossip. Love knows the harshness of death. And Love has conquered it all. He is the only One who really sees and knows you but He does see and know you.
Genesis 16:13 - She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Dear Lord, Thank You for seeing and knowing me just the way I am. Give me the eyes to see You and live into Your Love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Written and Submitted by Amy Vogel, author of Third Person
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