Currently reading through the Old Testament, and I come across a character I was meant to blog about quite a while ago, but somehow she got overlooked...again. Dear old Hagar; a character that shouldn't really even be known to us, an Egyptian servant to Sarai, Abram's wife.
Now Sarai did what we all do, (in principal rather than in practise!). Sarai took things into her own hands. She trusted herself rather than God. She was self-sufficient, self-reliant, self-obsessed maybe. She was impatient and waiting for God's promise to come to light was taking too long, so she improvised. She took the steering wheel and made things happen.
What did this look like in Sarai's case? Well, even though God had promised her husband "as many offspring as there were stars", she decided to give her servant to her husband for him to marry and sleep with in order for him to have the offspring promised to him! Now that's quite an intervention, and there's a whole load of bad choices in this one action, and that's why I said earlier that we all do what Sarai did in principle, not in practise.
Not surprisingly, this situation doesn't pan out so well. Hagar does indeed become pregnant by Abram. Hagar then arrogantly snubs her mistress Sarai. Sarai then blames Abram and asks him to deal with Hagar. Abram says its nothing to do with him!! And tells Sarai to do what she thinks is best. Sarai then mistreats her servant Hagar. Hagar runs away! Wow, Hollywood could use that storyline.
I could end the blog post here, with a good basis on why we shouldn't take things into our own hands, instead we should trust God for His provision and let Him fulfil what He has said is going to be. But I want to pick up on what happens next with Hagar...
While she's fleeing into the wilderness, the angel of the Lord comes to her. Let me stop you right there. When I'm fleeing into the wilderness; the wilderness of the snack drawer or my phone, I'd be pretty scared if the angel of the Lord appeared to me and asked me what I was doing, and where I thought I was going?! I reckon I'd feel pretty challenged there and then, with an answer of, "mmm I was thinking of eating this chocolate to bring me the comfort I seek". Or, "mmm I was thinking I'd scroll through my phone to escape the issues in my life". But Hagar is honest. She tells the angel of the Lord that she is indeed fleeing from her mistress. I just love Hagar's honesty. She doesn't play it down, or change it slightly, or make it seem better, or justify her actions or lie about it. She says it as it is. Yes Hagar, I have so much to learn from you!
Then the angel of the Lord, just tells her to go back to her life. He knows running away wont help her. She'd be running back to a life of Egyptian idols, pregnant and alone. It is better for her to go back to Sarai and even submit to her. It is better for me to come away from the snack drawer, the glass of wine, the phone, Social Media and back to real life, in submission to God's best for me.
Hagar calls God, 'You are the God who sees me'. The well that she is by is named, 'Beer Lahai Roi' as a reminder that Hagar was indeed seen by God. I love that God saw her. She had been used, treated badly, sinned against, and she had herself sinned, and then legged it, and God saw all of that. He saw her, He knew her, and He was with her all along. That is so reassuring. God sees me when I'm hurt, when I'm sinned against, when I'm sinning, when I'm raiding the snack drawer, and when I'm escaping on my phone.
He sees me. I am seen by Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment