"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, 'The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.'"
"When [Hagar] knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, ''You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.'"
"...Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And He said, 'Hagar...'"
"[Hagar] gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her, 'You are the God who sees me...'"
I never really considered the story of Hagar until last year in seminary when I was challenged to think on it in regards to Islam. Since then, the story of Hagar has become one of my very favorite in the whole Bible.
Think on it...Sarai is impatient with God and decides to take things into her own hands. (Wow, in writing that, if I only drop the 'i' on her name...how often that could be said of me!) Not to harp on her too much, she had waited for a long time for a son and was past the child-bearing years...sometimes its hard to figure out what God means when He speaks. But after taking things into her own hands and giving her "maidservant" to her husband and getting the desired results, she is upset and blames Abram for the "wrong she is suffering". Poor Abram, he just can't win. Granted, he should have stepped up and told her to wait on God, but women can be convincing.
Note here...when you look at the whole text - neither Sarai nor Abram ever call Hagar by name. She is always referred to as the maidservant. Surely it is not because they do not know her name, but it seems that they instead want to devalue her as a human and refer to her as only her position in life; a humble position indeed.
Then Sarai makes it worse and mistreats Hagar. It must have been awful because it was enough for a pregnant Hagar to run to the desert with no food nor water nor protection. But this is precisely where the story turns into one of absolute beauty.
Side note: God did not step in at any point until now. He did not stop Sarai's plan. He allowed for Hagar to conceive. He allowed the mistreatment. He allowed it all. I don't understand this. The consequences of Sarai's actions have carried through even to today. Maybe that's why He allowed it.
While in the desert, this slave woman, who is never referred to by name by her masters, is called on by God. One word and you can't hep but breath a sigh of relief and awe..."Hagar." What music that must have been to her ears. To hear one call her by name...and not just one, but the One. He saw her plight and stepped in. His words must not have been easy to hear; He told her to go back to Sarai, but just knowing that the God of the Universe - Sarai and Abram's God - knew her name and took the time to speak to her - that must have been enough to give her courage to go back. And she did go back. Proving more faithful than Sarai and Abram.
But this is the part I love. An Egyptian slave woman is the first to give a name to God. She calls Him "the God who sees"...He saw her in the desert as all hope in her life had failed and called her by name.
As I ponder my own life and the desert I feel I have walked in for so long...I am encouraged to know that I, too, serve this "God who sees". Just because He doesn't step in right away doesn't mean He doesn't see...He just knows the perfect timing.
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