I was reading an article by Colin Smith where he made a simple point from an unusual story in scripture. The point is that God notices. The story was of a poorly treated Egyptian servant named Hagar.
The story is found in Genesis 16. God had promised Abraham and Sarah they would have a huge family. But Sarai (before God changed her name) was without a child, so Sarai gave her servant Hagar to Abraham, and she bore him a son – Ishmael. That starts an ugly rivalry between the women, and their marriage becomes dysfunctional. All of this was predictable. Pain, hurt, jealousy, and broken relationships are inevitable when you or I refuse to trust God and then take things into our own hands.
In jealousy, Sarai mistreats the pregnant Hagar so badly that the servant flees to the desert. Abraham didn’t protect her. She’s alone, abused, afraid, and in danger. It’s in this condition that an angel of God finds her and tells her to go back to her mistress, which was the right thing to do. It is back “home” where she bore a son who was given the name Ishmael.
But there is one verse that most of us miss when reading this story. It is Genesis 16:13 where Hagar says to the angel: You are the God who sees me, for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” God saw her in her greatest need. God saw her when no one else saw her. God noticed her when others had rejected her. God had mercy on her when others abused her. God went looking for her when others had given up on her.
God sees us. He notices when we are struggling and in pain. He notices us when we are being tempted and giving into temptation. He has compassion on us in our suffering, and he hears. And God will direct us to do the right thing if we’ll seek him and listen.
All this is summed up in the name of the baby boy born to Hagar – Ishmael. The name Ishmael means “God hears.” God hears! That’s the only hope in this whole story. The story of Hagar and Ishmael doesn’t have a storybook ending where everyone lives happily ever after! But in the next chapter (17:20), God promises that he has heard Abraham. We don’t know what Abraham specifically asked for, but God promises to bless Ishmael, who will have a large family.
God hears! Even when the circumstances look bleak, he hears us. Even when God feels far away, he hears us. Even when we are upset or angry at God, he notices. God is with us. God is for us. That’s all we truly need to know. That’s the basis of faith.
Glen Elliott
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