Have you felt like you are not seen, trapped in a situation beyond your control?
This post explores Hagar’s story, revealing how humility, trust, and Yahweh’s guidance helped her through a tough time and how Yahweh sees us today.
Hagar: The outsider
Hagar is a woman you would have heard of if you were reading through the Bible, cover to cover. Since we’re at the beginning of the year, you may be doing a 365-day “challenge” reading through large chunks of the Bible to get it read in a year. While this is a great New Year’s Resolution, I would encourage time spent zooming into themes or characters to get a bit more detailed scope of the people in these stories/lessons shown in the Bible.
Hagar is the woman of focus for this blog post. I had Esther in mind, but I’ll save her for another day. This post highlights the good and bad aspects of Hagar’s character and how she had to get on with situations that were not pleasant.
Hagar’s story is found in Genesis 16. One thing to note is that she was an outsider: she was a Mitsrite (Egyptian), a servant to Sarai and not in her home country.
Why mention that? Whenever I read the Bible, I try to find some middle ground so I don’t look at the characters as words but as people who once walked the earth. It humbles you greatly when the Holy Spirit helps you understand the story and He points out areas where you do the same things you’re reading about from our Biblical ancestors. Yeah, let’s not get on our high horses.
Hagar, by proxy, was influenced by the Yahweh (God) of the universe through Abram’s choices. Given our knowledge of the Egyptian gods during that period, she would have been accustomed to her gods and followed her native practices. Let’s assume she did, as the Bible does not mention either way. She goes about her daily life serving this wealthy husband-and-wife couple, but they lack their own children.
A quick backstory – in Genesis 15, Abram spoke with Yahweh about who would inherit his possessions since he was childless. Yahweh tells Abram, ‘Look at the stars as if you can count them, that’s how many descendants you’ll have,’ and Abram believes what he is told (paraphrased from Gen 15:5-6 TS2009).
After this discussion, we’ll assume Abram told his wife, which is where the conversation about Hagar having Abram’s child comes from, as Sarai could not. Having concubines was common practice at this time.
Sarai’s Plan: When we try it out way
Hagar is introduced to us when Sarai tries to craft what Yahweh has spoken to Abram through her own efforts. I like that the Bible highlights man’s tactics and how things don’t always go according to plan. Sarai planned to have Abram sleep with Hagar to get her pregnant so that she could ‘have children through her’ (Gen 16:2 NLT).
This plan sounded like a great one at first. Once Hagar realised she was pregnant, her attitude changed, and she started to look down on Sarai because of her lack.
Let’s pause there. Sarai was already insecure, and Hagar’s announcement must have come as a shock. In this situation, Hagar’s responses were below-the-belt. She knew the situation since she was in close proximity and would have most likely been the shoulder Sarai leaned on during her most vulnerable times. To switch up like that, yeah, I can see why Sarai flew off the handles. It does not excuse her behaviour, but when the pieces are put together, the story looks slightly different. The emotions become raw. Hagar made it difficult for herself because Sarai’s attitude was out of control. Hagar eventually ran away because Sarai just brought out her nasty side.
Was Hagar right in running away? Was Sarai right to treat Hagar harshly? Yahweh saw it all.
Yahweh’s comfort
Yahweh sends a messenger to meet Hagar out in the wilderness. The messenger addresses Hagar by name and whose community she belongs to and gives her clear instructions when she returns to ‘…humble [her]self under [Sarai’s] hand’ (Gen 16:7-8).
Hagar chose to obey even though the situation was out of her control. She could not control Sarai, but she could control her own actions and how she responded to the environment. Yahweh saw her, met her right where she needed her, and gave her the strength to continue living in an environment she wasn’t keen on at that time.
The trust had been broken between Hagar and Sarai. The next time we hear from Hagar, in Genesis 21:1-20, Sarai gives birth to Issac and sends Hagar and Ishmael away, leaving Abraham pretty upset with this separation of his family.
Hagar was seen again in this situation as another messenger of Yahweh spoke with Hagar and gave her new hope and direction. It’s with that hope Hagar was able to live on the words of Yahweh and depend not on her own understanding (Proverbs 3:5)
Hagar shows us open, honest conversations without any distractions; we can hear from Yahweh in a unique way, and we can build on that moment going forward.
Like Hagar, ‘when troubles of any kind come our way, [we should] consider it an opportunity for great joy…’ (James 1:1-2 NLT) as we can speak honestly to Yahweh about what we feel. It could be workplace tension, relationships, or not fitting in, like Hagar she had to trust in Yahweh’s words and learn, while being tested, to follow his guidance.
How have you been responding to situations that are out of your control?
Knowing about Hagar’s situation, what do you want to start doing going forward?
How has Hagar’s story inspired you?
As we begin this new year, let’s take Hagar’s story as a reminder that even in the hardest moments, Yahweh sees us, hears us, and provides strength to move forward.