Read with Me
Genesis 16:7-16 (HCSB)
The Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”
Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “You must go back to your mistress and submit to her mistreatment.” The Angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”
Then the Angel of the LORD said to her:
You have conceived and will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,
for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.
This man will be like a wild donkey.
His hand will be against everyone,
and everyone’s hand will be against him;
he will live at odds with all his brothers.
So she called the LORD who spoke to her: The God Who Sees, for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the One who sees me?” That is why she named the spring, “A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” It is located between Kadesh and Bered.
So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son Hagar had. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.
Listen with Me
Hagar had fled from her mistress, Sarai, and was heading back to her former home in Egypt. But the way was long, and she was alone and pregnant. So, she stopped by a spring to figure out her next moves. It was there that God met with her.
Many are surprised that the first thing that God’s angel did was to ask Hagar where she had come from and where she was go going. Doesn’t God know everything? Absolutely! But the question was not for God’s information, it was for Hagar’s. At critical junctures, it is necessary to look back to assess where you have come from, and then to look forward at your goals. In doing so, many have seen adjustments that must be made in order to be successful.
In this case, God needed to give Hagar some firm direction. She had done wrong in vaunting herself above her mistress. She had tried to use her situation to displace Sarai in her husband’s eyes. For Hagar, the only way forward was to go back and to submit to Sarai again.
But her submission would have a reward from God. Although the son she would have, Ishmael, “God hears” in Hebrew, would not be the one to inherit the promise since his conception had not been God’s doing, but had been accomplished by the machinations of people, he was still a son of Abram, and he would be blessed. He would become a mighty chief with twelve sons of his own, and descendants beyond counting.
Hagar had grown up in Egypt and had been taught about the Egyptian gods since her childhood. But those gods never spoke, never acted. They merely stared out mutely from the walls and temples into which they had been sculpted. But this God, the God that her master Abram talked about, had now seen her, He had spoken to her, and He had even given her an amazing promise.
Hagar obeyed God’s voice and returned to Sarai with a completely different mindset. Sarai still did not trust her, and often treated her more harshly than she had before. But Hagar bore up under the mistreatment, because she now had a promise of her own that she was living into. And when her son was born, Abraham named him Ishmael, based on God’s command which Hagar had shared with him upon her return.
Pray with Me
Father, two things really stand out to me here. The first is the need to first look back at important junctures in my life and then to look forward with a better perspective. Often in looking back, I have the opportunity to correct errors and misperceptions that I might otherwise take into the future, allowing them to taint and skew what I do going forward. The second thing is the power of Your promise in not only drawing me forward, but also in helping me to bear the hardships I encounter along the way. I know that this has been powerfully true in my own life. Thank You, Lord, for Your amazing promises, and for Your ability to help me to see clearly, so that I can move forward in Your grace and power. Amen.
Exciting news! The next two volumes in the When We Listen devotional series have been released! Luke and John are now available on Amazon. You can click on the links below for more information or to order them. If you are in the Portland Metro area in Oregon, I will be doing a release party and book signing on Tuesday, October 8, from 6-8 p.m. The new books will be available for purchase at a discounted rate. The release party will be at the Woodburn Area Chamber of Commerce Office, 1755 Mount Hood Ave, Unit 120, Woodburn, Oregon, 97071. It would be great to meet those of you who live nearby!
Luke
John