When Moms Feel UnseenSample

It’s easy to feel unseen as a mom. We feel unseen when no one appreciates the countless dinners, playdates, and appointments we’ve made happen. We feel unseen when we get no credit for the never-ending to-do list we carry in our heads, trying to keep every living being in the house fed, clothed, and somewhat in their right mind. We feel unseen when our real lives, with our real hopes and struggles, aren’t reflected in social media trends or even in the sermons we hear each week. In a culture that renders mothers' real lives invisible, Hagar's story gives us great hope.

Hagar is one of the most unseen mothers in Scripture. An enslaved Egyptian outsider, seen only as a potentially fertile servant, Hagar is profoundly unseen in this family. In fact, the three times Abram and Sarai mention Hagar, they call her “my slave” or “your slave,” never by name. Yet God sees Hagar, and God sees each of us.

Sarai and her husband, Abram, received a promise from God that they would bear a child who would become the father of as many descendants as there are stars. Many years later, tired of waiting, Sarai takes matters into her own hands and asks Abram to have sex with her enslaved servant, Hagar.

Hagar has no choices about where she lives, who she works for, who she has sex with, who impregnates her, and who takes her child. Yet God steps into her story of heartbreak and exploitation, meeting her at a well and beginning a transformational story of love.

In Hagar’s story, we will see five steps of spiritual transformation that give great hope to moms, especially when we feel unseen:

1. God meets us where we are.
2. God asks us to share our story.
3. God calls us to trust and obey.
4. God transforms us and sets us free.
5. God invites us to be agents of shalom.

What do you notice about these five steps? That’s right—they all start with God. As we’ll discover this week, God meets us where we are and then initiates each step along the way.

Even if no one else in our lives sees us, God does. He sees us—all our dreams and failures, joys and sorrows—and invites us into a transformational relationship of love.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for being the God who sees us. We long to meet you and have a genuine, honest conversation with you. We want to trust you, obey you, experience your transforming love, and partner with you as an agent of shalom in the world. Help us to say yes to your invitations. Amen.