This story has all the components of a made-for-TV movie. Or a binge-worthy show on Netflix.
Taking place centuries ago, the story highlights how God works in us and for us. How He meets us. It is not without drama, consequences, tension, forgiveness, mercy, and love.
The principal male role is a patriarch of the Christian faith. A man of obedience and strength who looked beyond his own capabilities and relied on God’s power. And he was a man who made mistakes.
His wife is the leading female in the credits. Childless and barren, she is desperate to have a baby. At the age of 90, she is starting to lose hope. Her emotions and fear took over her faith.
Let’s call them Abram and Sarai. Because that’s their names.
Because of Abram’s faith, God promises him, “I’ll make you a great nation and bless you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
[Cue weighty, dramatic music with lots of horns and percussion as God speaks to Abram…]
“Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever … Counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth.”
But they were old, and Sarai was barren, and unfortunately, that is where our main characters placed their focus. Old. Barren. Impossible.
Now conflict enters the story.
Abram and Sarai loved God. Believed in God. Had trusted God.
But they couldn’t reconcile the promise they had received from the one true God—that they would have children—with their current reality. They decided to take matters into their own hands.
Sarai told Abram to sleep with one of her maidservants, Hagar. Abram agreed.
Pausing just for a moment here …
What do you suppose went through Hagar’s mind when she was told about this idea? She is a servant. A foreigner. Ancient law approved of this type of arrangement in pagan cultures, but, oh my. What a situation to find yourself in.
[Cue emotional, dramatic music with strings and French horns.]
Tension enters the story.
When Hagar becomes pregnant, she starts to despise Sarai. And then Sarai blames her husband Abram for the trouble between her and her maidservant. Abram seems to wash his hands of the situation. Sarai starts treating her servant terribly. And Hagar runs away to the desert. She’s had enough.
Just think about this.
Hagar was in a terrible situation. She’d been mistreated. As a slave, her rights and opinions didn’t matter. When she ran from the abusive conditions, she was pregnant and alone. Consider how she must have felt. Scared. Hopeless. Unloved.
And then …
God meets Hagar. Next to a stream in the desert. I imagine Hagar to be on her knees, holding her belly, pounding the sand, crying out for justice and answers, her sobs coming from the deepest part of her soul. And as only God can do, he provides the comfort she’s looking for. He provides direction and blessing. “God heard you. God answered you.”
Hagar’s response?
“You are the God who sees me.”
Oh, how I love those words. God sees me.
My friend, your circumstances may be different, but haven’t you felt that way sometimes? Life seems to be out of your control and your hurt and angry and sadness consume your heart. Someone has wronged you. Life went in a direction you hadn’t planned.
And yet you can know this …
God sees you.
In her darkest moment, Hagar realized …
“You are the God who sees me.”
In your darkest moment, I invite you to know and remember …
God sees you.
God knows your name.
He understands your situation.
He sees you.
