lectio divina:: genesis 16

way back in Genesis 12, God promised Abraham that he would make him into a great nation; but Abraham and his wife were old and they had no children. in chapter 16, they get impatient and force the promise to come faster. Abraham’s wife Sarah tells Abraham to sleep with her Egyptian servant Hagar and he does. (which also raises some questions; because that’s a wrong thing to do…right? God never brings it up.)

so Hagar gets pregnant and the bible says that she despised Sarah. (I probably would too). then the drama comes out. Sarah tells Abraham: “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." and Abraham basically shrugs his shoulders and says, “Your servant is in your hands, do with her whatever you think best." the bible says that Sarah mistreated Hagar- so much that Hagar ran for her life. way to go Abe.

then it says that the angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert. (the commentators all have all sorts of ideas about the angel of the LORD. This angel speaks for God in such a way that its pretty much God speaking. and when people speak to the angel, its like they are speaking to God- so is it an angel, or is it God? or is it Jesus Himself, before He was made into flesh?)

the angel asks Hagar, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" (I love this question- did Hagar even know where she was going? or was she just running?)

“"I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."
The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the LORD has heard of your misery.”

Ishmael means “God sees.” and even though this lady was just a servant in Abraham’s house, God saw her. and when Hagar was the victim of Abraham and Sarah’s dumb decisions, God saw that too.

I love what it says next:
“Hagar gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."

we all deal with messes- some of them are our faults, some of them are the result of someone else’s decisions, but through it all, God watches us and watches over us. He sees. He sees the patriarch and he sees the servant girl, and He sees you and me- and He cares.

“May you now see the One that sees you.”

God is love.
-rev-rob