This post is from Moms Take Ten episode 84, “Moms in the Bible–Hagar part 2”, which you can listen to wherever you listen to podcasts or at https://sites.libsyn.com/403493/moms-in-the-bible-hagar-part-2
We are on our second journey through the moms in the Bible. Eve was last month, and now we come to Hagar. Her story is told in Genesis 16 and 21. Hagar, if you remember, was a servant in the household of Abraham and Sarah. Originally from Egypt, Hagar lived with her masters in the land of Canaan. When Sarah became desperate to have a child and tired of waiting on the Lord’s timing, she chose to give her servant Hagar to Abraham so that she could have a child through her. Hagar did conceive, though the success of the plan was not well received by any of them. Hagar looked down on her mistress. Sarah became jealous and insecure and mistreated Hagar. Abraham simply looked on with disinterest. At one point Hagar fled from her mistress and found herself pregnant in the wilderness, trying to get back home to Egypt. God met her there, encouraged her, spoke a promise to her of her son’s future, and called her to return home.
Hagar and Ishmael spent years living in Abraham and Sarah’s household. Abraham, himself had prayed and asked that God would consider Ishmael the heir of the great promise given to Abraham years earlier. That was not to be. While God can use the foolish workings of our hands, he had made a promise that he intended to keep in a very specific way. The heir was going to come from Sarah’s womb.
She conceived and bore a son, naming him Isaac. On the day that Isaac was weaned, Ishmael, now a teenager, was seen mocking him. He had become accustomed to holding the status and security of being Abraham’s only son, and presumably the sole heir. Now, suddenly, he finds himself sharing his position with a child. In his insecurity and frustration, he mocked–a flashback to his mother’s own behavior toward Sarah years earlier. What had Hagar been holding onto that she passed down to Ishmael? What dynamics had he witnessed, what conversations had he overheard? Enough to mock.
It is sobering to remember that our children are influenced by our own sins. They are watching and learning.
Sarah’s response to this injustice against her beloved Isaac was to send Hagar and Ishmael away, removing any rights Ishmael might have had to an inheritance. Their expected future was shattered, as they entered the wilderness with only bread and water. This is the same wilderness where, years earlier, the Lord had met Hagar and given her a promise. Her son, whom the Lord himself named, would one day be free, and his family would grow so they “cannot be numbered for multitude.”
The name the Lord chose, Ishmael, means “God hears.” Built into that name was a reminder to Hagar of God’s attention towards her and her child. Every time it was spoken, she would be reminded. Yet, as their water and bread ran out, she forgot. Genesis 21:15 says, “When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.””
What depths of despair must she have experienced that she would walk away from her own child, leaving him to die alone. What fear must he have felt, as he called from the bush he was placed under.
Have you ever felt that way? Hearing the voice of your child and seeing their anguish, yet feeling so completely unable to help? We mamas are wired to know our child’s voice, to discern their cries, and to meet their needs to the best of our abilities. But what if we cannot stop the pain? What if we cannot fix the hurt? What then?
The meaning of Ishmael’s name speaks to us as well. God hears. God sees. God knows our children and what they are going through. Psalm 56:8 says, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”(NLT) When I first heard that verse, it made me angry. Why would you collect my tears when you could fix the situation and remove the reason for my crying? It felt sick and twisted that God would be up there going, “Oh good, she’s crying again. I needed more tears for my collection.” My interpretation was so very far from the truth.
The psalmist penned those words as an expression of comfort and faith. He believed that the Lord was mindful of him, that the Lord knew of his sorrows. He believed in a God who paid attention to his children and was at work in their lives. The psalmist goes on to say, “This I know: God is on my side…I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?” (Ps. 56:9, 11 NLT)
We cannot fix all, heal all, help all in our children’s lives, however, we know the one who can. As he called to Hagar in her moment of despair, he calls to us. He wants us to turn to him and seek him for his help. He wants us to trust that his plan is good. He wants us to release our control, our panic, our fear, and our future to him as the psalmist did, and as Hagar learned to do.
The Lord heard Ishmael’s cries as he lay helpless under the bush. His response was to lift up his mother so that she could help her son. He equipped her for the work she needed to do to provide for him and bring him to a place of safety. Hagar felt she had nothing left to offer her child but God showed her differently. We see this in Genesis 21:17-19: “And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
God’s rescue of her child involved her. He was the one orchestrating it all, he was the ultimate rescuer but he still had a part for her to play. God uses us in the lives of our children even when we feel helpless and unfit. Where he places you, he will use you. When he calls you, he will equip you. When his calling is difficult, he will strengthen you.
After Hagar and Ishmael are refreshed by the water the Lord provided, they are able to continue on their journey. The passage says, “And God was with the boy, and he grew up” (Gen. 21:20). Hagar was able to watch him grow up and see him get married, and witness the start of the fulfillment of God’s promise. What God says, he will do.
Lyssa Stoyko 