Tag: hagar

Posted in Devotions, Through the Bible Devotions

He sees you

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Rainier Ridao on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Genesis 16.

Then [Hagar] called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)

I love how characters in the Old Testament narrative come up with names for God that reflect their experience with him. Hagar, Sarai’s servant, comes up with a great one: El-roi. “The God who sees me.”

No one knows Hagar. She is Sarai’s Egyptian slave woman, commanded to be the surrogate mother of Abram’s child. Sarai’s not having any children. How else will Abram become the father of a great nation?

Once Hagar conceives, Sarai becomes jealous and abusive. Hagar has to run for her life. God meets her in the desert and sends her back home. She matters. She is not simply an asterisk in the history books. Her descendants will be a great nation too.

No one remembers the person who finished second. Few remember Super Bowl or World Series losers. Winners get their name on the Stanley Cup. Losers are forgotten.

Except when it comes to God, who sees you and I and Hagar. And Jacob, the younger twin. And Gideon, the youngest member of the least important family of his tribe. And David, the youngest of eight brothers. Or Paul, the foremost of sinners.

Whether you like it or not, God notices you. For better or worse, you’re on his radar. He’s in the stands, cheering on your team, even if you’re on the bench. He’s your biggest fan.

Posted in Advent devotions, Devotions

Advent devotion: “What are you doing out here?”

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for November 30, 2020. Read Genesis 16:7-14 and Psalm 16.

Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash

It has been four chapters and ten years since Abram believed and obeyed the command of the Lord to go to Canaan where he would become a great nation. Abram and his wife Sarai still have no children. Not much of a nation so far. So Sarai has her husband sleep with her servant Hagar. Hagar conceives and Sarai is not happy. She treats Hagar badly until Hagar finally leaves.

The angel of the Lord finds her at a spring and asks, “What are you doing out here?” Now that phrase “the angel of the Lord” means more than just an angel like the ones Jacob sees in his staircase dream or that the shepherds saw on the night when Jesus was born. By the end of these verses, Hagar knows she has seen the Lord, “a God of seeing,” “him who looks after me” (16:13). This moment is one of the pre-incarnational appearances of the second person of the Trinity, whom we will later get to know as Jesus Christ. No one can look at God the Father and live. You can see God the Holy Spirit at work, but it’s like the wind. You can’t see it but you can see its effect. It must be the Son.

Hagar couldn’t win. She did what she was told, but still got in trouble. It was one of the first “no good deed goes unpunished” moments. But the Lord found her and sent her back home to be the mother of a great nation. Hers would not be the covenant people of God, but they would be a family to be reckoned with nonetheless.

All of us have had moments when we’ve done everything right, but it still turned out wrong. A recipe that tasted terrible. A do-it-yourself project that soon ended up in the trash. A best effort that only earned a “C” from the teacher. A carefully chosen gift the recipient returns the next day.

What do you do when you just can’t win? You remember that God doesn’t care about you because you’re a winner, or successful, or get lots of “likes.” He cares about you because you are one of His. He made you, knows you, loves you and sometimes asks “What are you doing?” Jesus, live and in person, would later reassure His disciples, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:58)!

When it feels like I’m out in the middle of nowhere, thanks for finding, seeing and looking after me, Lord. It is so good to know that I’m not alone! Amen.