Every Woman Series (Part One) “Hagar, The Woman Who Named God.”

From the desk of Dr. Robert L. Taylor, Th.D. Every woman who has walked with God has a story to tell! Our Scripture reference is Genesis 16; Genesis 21:8-21. Hagar’s story is God sees you! As people who live by faith, we believe that God answers prayer and keeps His promises, however Hagar’s story will shake us out of simplistic notions of God’s call, God’s promises, and God’s faithfulness. In the sometimes messy and difficult reality of our lives, God is there to provide. This woman is not just a supporting character in the story of Abraham and Sarah. She is not just the mother of Ishmael. Looking at Genesis 16 and 21 through Hagar’s eyes reveals that her story is Israel’s story. And it has a lot to teach us about how God shows up in our own stories. The story of Hagar is a powerful story of exodus and struggle and of how God meets us in the midst of what we are going through. Yet, most often we focus on the story of Abraham and Sarah and the fulfillment of God’s promise to make Abraham the father of many nations. However, within Abraham and Sarah’s story, we discover the faith and perseverance of Hagar, a woman who was pulled in and then cast out into the wilderness by impatient, envious, resentful, jealous, and imperfect people. Hagar’s story is that even when we find ourselves wandering in wilderness places, even when life circumstances and systems of power push us down and toss us out, God who knows where we came from and knows where we’re going, is drawing near to us. Who among us has not doubted God’s promises? Who among us has not felt contempt for another person or suffered in some seemingly hopeless circumstance? Hagar, who’s a non-Jewish woman with no power or status, is the first person in the Bible to be visited by an angel and the only person in Scripture to give God a name—El Roi, “the God who sees me.” In the midst of her pain and struggle, Hagar receives God’s blessing and promises. Hagar’s story encourages us to look for God in the rough places and to find the assurance that we, too, can encounter the God who sees us. Be encouraged!