Imagine being taken away from your native country to another to work as a slave and later becoming the wife of your master. It sounds cool right? The story of Hagar begins with a low moment, then a high moment and later a divine intervention to save her and her son. Hagar was an Egyptian lady who was the slave girl of Abraham and Sarah. One day, Sarah decided that Hagar should become a wife to Abraham so Sarah could have children through Hagar. It sounds nuts in our day but it was a practice that was acceptable. “So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress” (Genesis 16:3-4). The first thing we learned about Hagar was the fact that when she became pregnant, her attitude towards her mistress changed. This caused her to receive maltreatment from her mistress Sarah until Hagar had to run away. While she was on the run, “the angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “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 increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count” (Genesis 16:7-10). Hagar had to learn submission from an angel. Hagar was pregnant with no ordinary child but she needed to submit to her mistress. When our position changes, do we behave differently or we become pompous and disrespectful to authority? Submission is necessary for elevation. Hagar went back home and submitted herself to her mistress. We do not hear of further complaints about Hagar’s attitude. Sarah did not have a reason to hate Hagar for a very long time. In fact, Hagar was driven away from home because of the action of her son Ishmael. God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. (Genesis 21:17) It was Sarah’s decision to drive Hagar and Ishmael away because Sarah saw Ishmael mocking. Ishmael’s attitude affected his mother’s position. While Hagar and Ishmael wandered in the Desert, both Hagar and Ishmael became weary. “When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.” (Genesis 21:15-16). Hagar was worried about losing Ishmael but God had a plan. “God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.” (Genesis 21:17-19). This was the second time Hagar had a divine encounter. She was indeed a mother of no ordinary child. God showed Hagar a well of water that satisfied their thirst. Hagar was anticipating death, but she and her son both had their lives spared. Ishmael grew up in the Desert and “God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt” (Genesis 21:20-21). Hagar understood that in order for her son to live all the promises of God on him, he needed to have his own family. Hagar found a wife from her own people for her son. Ishmael would have no story without Hagar. The story of Hagar is the story of many others across the world. Moving from a lowly estate and getting a very prestigious position. But, not everyone is able to maintain the new lifestyle. For Hagar, she had to learn submission and later when she was driven from home, she had to trust God to rescue her and her dying son. In her high moment, Hagar was a new wife to the rich Abraham. In her low moments, Hagar was a hated slave and the mother with a dying child. However, her story changed when God opened her eyes to see the well of water. May God open our eyes to the well of water that will satisfy our deepest longings.
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