Have you read my Hello Eve or Hello Sarai/Sarah series??? Check ’em out and let me know what you think!

The last two weeks we learned about Hagar’s misfortune. She was a slave who was forced to have a child for her masters. Once she became pregnant an intense hatred between herself and her mistress erupted into mistreatment and Hagar’s running away. Last week we saw how God was with her through it all. He protected her in the desert and sent her back to her mistress. Today we see what happens almost 20 years later. Have they learned to live in harmony? Have they accepted their roles and flourished within them? Or has the underlying tension kept everyone walking on eggshells?

Genesis 21 drops a bit of a bombshell on the story. It let’s loose a rather unexpected turn of events. At this point Sarah, Hagar’s mistress, has had the child she has waited forever for. She decides that she no longer wants Hagar around, sending her and her son away for good has become her desire. Abraham wisely consults with the Lord and in verse 12 God responds. His answer may be surprising, let’s read it…
12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you…”

13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

God blesses the idea of sending Hagar away but not without first speaking a blessing over her son.

14 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.

I bet Hagar had no idea she was going to be exiled from the only home she’d known for more than 30 years when she woke up that morning. Maybe she was overcome with uncertainty and fear at the thought of having to leave and not knowing where to go. Back into the desert she went. This time she did not go alone. Her son accompanied her in the wanderings. Having a limited amount of supplies soon became an issue especially because they wandered without a final destination.

15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 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.

Lack of water took it’s toll and her son began to dehydrate. One piece if information that strikes me about this story every time is the boys age. When read without background knowledge it comes off like he is just a young child. The reality is that the boy was a teenager. She walked away from her teenaged son and left him to die.

Wow! What a moment of hopelessness. How incredibly crippling it must feel to be in a position where the one person you love the most in the world is slipping away and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

But then God… maybe there is nothing you or I can do in some situations but there is always one who can make the impossible possible.

17 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. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Talk about coming through at what felt like the last minute. Once again God met Hagar in the middle of desolation. Once again God reminded her that He was in control. She thought she would watch her son die from a distance and probably die shortly after him. But God had other plans.   

19 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.

I love how it says that He “opened her eyes” as if implying the wells presence the whole time. I wonder what is directly in front of you that you have been praying for but have not noticed? What is God opening your eyes to?

Memory Verse: Matthew 19:26
Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”