#27: God Hears

Genesis 21:14-19

Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

Comments

Hagar’s life had been full of trouble and now it seemed to be coming to an end. She had been a foreigner and a slave, given by her mistress to bear the child of her master, and ultimately cast out with her son into the desert with none of Abraham’s wealth to support her, but only as much bread and water as she could carry.

To Sarah she had been nameless, referred to only as “that slave woman” when Sarah told Abraham to get rid of her. By contrast, God heard her cries, knew her name, and gave her a new life.

Reflections

Phyllis Trible says of Hagar that “…all sorts of rejected women find their stories in her. She is the faithful maid exploited, the black woman used by the male and abused by the female of the ruling class, the surrogate mother, the resident alien without legal recourse, the other woman, the runaway youth, the religious fleeing from affliction, the pregnant young woman alone, the expelled wife, the divorced mother with child, the shopping bag lady carrying bread and water, the homeless woman, the indigent relying upon handouts from the power structures, the welfare mother, and the self-effacing female whose own identity shrinks in service to others.” How do God's people respond to these Hagars of our own day?

God opened Hagar’s eyes to see a well of water that would save the life of Hagar and her son. Has God ever helped you see hope where you thought there was none?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hears our cries and shows us hope.