Hagar's Faith

In Genesis sixteen, Sarah (at that time Sarai) told Abraham (at that time Abram) that she could not get pregnant. So Sarah suggested that he try to have a child through Hagar, a servant in their household. So Abraham followed through with this plan, and Hagar became pregnant. Upon learning of her pregnancy, Hagar began to treat Sarah contemptuously. Later, Sarah returned her cruelty and caused Hagar to run away…

“ The angel of the Lord said to her, ‘ Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.’ Then he added, ‘I will give you more descendants than you can count.’

And the angel also said, ‘ You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.” [Gen. 16:9-12 (NLT)]

Notice the promise the Lord made to Hagar. Back then; it was a blessing to have many descendants, but a curse to have a bad family name, and the Lord promised her that her child will bring her both of these. So he gave her a blessing, but also a curse. Could it seem rather worthless? That her would make her a mother just so she can grieve over a wild son? Hagar could have thought this way about God’s promise to her, but instead this happened…

“Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.’ She also said, ‘Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” [Gen. 16:13 (NLT)]

Sometimes, I like to sit on a chair in the porch in my backyard, and just stare into space. I look at the grass, the trees, the sky, and the little animals. I think, “How awesome is the One who made all this?” Then I realize, I am only seeing an extraordinarily SMALL FRACTION of God’s creation. Even if I could see all of the world at once, what is that compared to the universe? Or the mystery that lies in the heavens?

Was this what Hagar was getting at? How what seems like sour deed done unto her was a good deed done for mankind? After all, through Isaac, the world was blessed. And Ishmael was said to father some nations himself. But I think what Hagar realized was, IT WAS NOT ABOUT HER. That the Lords lukewarm blessing on her was STILL out of love even though it was not as great as she could have hoped. And that even though she couldn’t see his work taking place, she knew he was still working towards something. And that she could not judge whom God was by the situation at hand. Just like I could not name all of God’s creation by the view from my back porch.

Christians, so many of us judge whom God is just by the material, just by what he gives us. So many of us lose our faith in God when the chips are down. How can we ever expect to UNDERSTAND HIM when our perception of God is circumstantial? We have to look around, Christians. We have to see God’s love in MORE than just the material blessings. See his love in your talents, your health, your family, and most importantly your KNOWLEDGE OF HIM AND HIS PROMISE. And never let you faith be swayed by the misfortunes at hand, for ALL OF THAT IS ONLY TEMPORARY.

And when you feel like you have nothing. Just remember, you have God. And by having God YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW how much you have.

May the Lord’s guidance be with you all,