"Thou God seest me"
Sarah and Abraham wanted to help God out of a dilemma (or what appeared to them to be a dilemma). God had promised to give Abraham a son and make him the father of a great nation that would be as the sand of the sea and the stars in the sky. But they had a problem: Sarah was past child-bearing age. In fact she was at least 65 years of age. Abraham "believed the Lord; and he counted it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6 ESV
But as time passed and Sarah did not conceive a son, she conceived a scheme, a simple one: surrogate motherhood. She gave her Egyptian maid Hagar to her husband as a sort of second-class wife and Hagar became pregnant by Abraham. This was not God’s plan and it was not God’s guiding. This son was Ishmael, the founder of the Arab nation, a son of the flesh rather than a child of the promise as explained later in the book of Galatians.
Lesson #1: don’t think God is dependent on you or your creative schemes to fulfill His many promises given to you in scripture. You need Him; He doesn’t need you to help Him out. He created the universe by the word of His power; and He can lead you in His providence just as easily. In His grace God has chosen to use you in His service and work through you to minister to others but be sure you are following His Word, His way, and His Holy Spirit and not your own creative ingenuity or clever ideas. Don’t try to manipulate God or other people, just obey Him and be faithful to Him.
Follow the story in Genesis chapter 16. After Hagar became pregnant by Abraham and Sarah couldn’t, Hagar became proud and arrogant and treated her mistress with disdain. This, of course, angered Sarah who began treating Hagar harshly so much so that Hagar fled from her. She ran away into the desert towards Egypt, her homeland. And scripture tells us, "The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness." 16:7
So lesson #2: even when you mess up, God will come looking for you. And when God looks for you, He always finds you. Surely you didn’t forget that God is omnipresent, did you? You and I and all of us live in the presence of God–always. We can’t escape from His presence even if we wanted to (which I hope you don’t!)
The angel of the Lord found Hagar and asked her why she was there. Not that he didn’t know, but he wanted her to admit her situation. Which she did. She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sarah." 16:8
Then the angel of the Lord gave her a promise and a command. The promise was that her son Ishmael would become the father of a great nation also. And the command was simple: change your attitude. Go back and submit to the authority of your mistress. With the clear implication that she should submit willingly and gracefully.
And Hagar obeyed. She had seen God and God had spoken to her–in human language. The words are recorded in Genesis 16. And Hagar "called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing.’" And she understood the implications of that because she also said, "Truly here I have seen Him who looks after me." 16:13 ESV
So lesson #3: God sees us and seeing us, He takes care of us. Is this not a wonderful truth for us to live by! He has promised to guide us and He does. "He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Psalm 23:2-3
"He looks after me." He takes care of us as the shepherd takes care of His sheep. And His sheep we are. The fact that God sees us just as the angel of the Lord saw and followed Hagar to the spring of water in the desert, means that we are never alone and we are never without help and refuge and strength because God supplies all of that for us. In Him we live and move and have our being. But He is not just watching us, He is guiding us, He is talking to us through His word and directly to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." Romans 8:16 ESV
Lesson #4: the name God gave to Hagar’s son: "Ishmael" which means "God hears." Hagar’s mistreatment by Sarah had not gone unnoticed or uncared for by God. "The Lord has listened to your affliction" are the words of the angel to Hagar in v. 11. God listened and responded. He does the same for you and for me and for all of His children. Trust the Providence of God. He is looking after you. He is the God who hears and listens and the God who sees and does something about it. He may ask you to do something as difficult as He told Hagar–return and submit to the authority in your life. Trust Him. He knows what is best. He is your shepherd and your exceeding great reward, as well as your Savior and the strength of your life.
–Pastor Burnside
