Mothers of the Bibleনমুনা

Hagar: The God Who Sees You

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” —Genesis 16:13, NIV

Do you ever feel lonely or unnoticed? As we go about midnight feedings, laundry folding, carpooling and the myriad of tasks motherhood requires, it’s easy to feel like no one sees us.

But there’s a story in the Bible that tells us otherwise. It’s the story of a mom named Hagar, and we find it in Genesis 16 and Genesis 21.

Hagar is the Egyptian maidservant of Sarai (also known as Sarah), who is married to Abram (also known as Abraham). God has promised Abram that he will make him into a great nation, with more descendants than stars in the sky. But there’s a problem: Abram and Sarai have not been able to have children, and they are up there in age, past customary childbearing years.

Sarai has an idea: She gives her maidservant, Hagar, to her husband so that he can produce an heir through Hagar. Abram goes along with this plan, and Hagar becomes pregnant.

As you might imagine, this causes a lot of drama in Abram’s household. Hagar resents Sarai for putting her in this position with no say. Sarai is jealous of Hagar and mistreats her, so Hagar runs away.

She flees to a spring in the desert. Here, the extraordinary happens. The Angel of the Lord meets Hagar in this place. He calls her by name and asks where she came from and where she’s going (Genesis 16:7-8).

There are a few noteworthy things in these two verses: Some Bible scholars believe that references to the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament are actually references to Jesus, preincarnate. Also, the angel refers to Hagar by name. Abram and Sarai only referred to her as a slave or maidservant; we never see them call her by name.

The Lord tells Hagar to go back to Sarai and submit to her. The angel also adds that she will have descendants “too numerous to count” and that her son will be named Ishmael (Genesis 16:10-11, NIV), which means “God hears.”

Hagar walks away from this experience changed. She gives God one of the first names we find in the Old Testament: “the God who sees me” (Genesis 16:13, NIV).

The next time you feel unnoticed, remember that the God who saw Hagar sees you too. He knows you by name, and he is with you.

Challenge: Journal about a time when you felt God’s care in a tough moment.