Hagar: You Matter To The God Who Sees
READ: Genesis 16, Psalm 136:1-18
Alone and far from home, mistreated and overlooked, just a pawn to be used and discarded, this was Hagar’s story. She was an Egyptian slave who probably ended up with Abram and Sarai after their time in Egypt [Genesis 12:10-20]. We first meet Hagar when Sarai gives her to Abram to bear a child, here, she is entered into a marriage where her only worth was the potential to bear a child. Imagine living a life dictated by others, with no rights of your own, no say in how your life went.
God allows Hagar to become pregnant, but Hagar hadn’t yet learnt to recognize God at work and became puffed up with pride. She was finally vindicated, with the birth of a child she would show herself to be worth something, she would finally be recognized. Unfortunately, her sinful pride and the sin of Abram and Sarai led to her being treated so harshly that she runs away. Interestingly, Hagar means ‘flight’, she did what I and so many of us are prone to do when things get difficult, run. And it’s in her running that God finds her.
God always had His eye on Hagar, and He never overlooked her or considered her unimportant. In fact, He was so involved that He came looking for her. God found her and called her by name, for the first time she was seen and recognized. I can relate to Hagar, searching to be seen, to be valued, to be deemed as important. I lived a lot of my life feeling overlooked and alone, praying many a prayer with tears and asking the question “does anyone see me?” In my desire for recognition and validation, I have compromised my purity and I have worked myself to exhaustion and to the point of having anxiety attacks. The reality is that seeking recognition from people leaves you disappointed and unappreciated, only God can truly give us the recognition and acceptance our hearts desire. I am grateful that God hears my cries of distress, just like He heard Hagar’s.
As He came to her rescue, He wasn’t going to magically fix everything (God is not a fairy god-mother), instead, He was going to equip her with His promises to help her endure. God’s message to Hagar was to go back, to submit, and to endure. Here Hagar gives God the name EL ROI: The God Who Sees. (She is the only person in the scriptures to give God a name, how radically awesome is that!) She asked herself “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”, what an encounter! She gives us a guideline for how we should view God, as One who is personal and intimate. Carolyn Custis James in her book, Lost Women of the Bible, accurately states “Hagar introduced God's people to the doctrine of God's omniscience-not simply that God knows everything, but that he knows me.”
Personally, I can get caught in the grandeur of God, I am in awe of the fact that He is El Shaddai (The Almighty One) or El ‘Elyon (The Most High) or Elohim (The Creator), but I need more frequent reminders that He is El Roi, the One who sees me. The One who cares intimately about me, who knows the number of hairs on my head (Luke 12:7), who keeps track of all my tears (Psalm 56:8), who has precious and vast thoughts towards me (Psalm 139:17). There is never a moment where God has forgotten about you. You matter so much that God would send His Son to become man and suffer for your sake (Isaiah 53:4-6). You have always mattered to Him and you always will.
Song: Matter by for KING & COUNTRY
“To the one who spoke and set the sun ablaze
To the one who stopped the storm and walked the waves
To the one who took the tree so He could say
You matter, I hope you know you matter”
