Not Alone: Hagar

Hagar… a pregnant slave, abused and on the run.

What was she thinking out there all alone in the desert? What were her plans?

God’s angel found her and told her to go home! She was promised that not only would she give birth to the son she was carrying but also that she would have descendants too numerous to count.

I love this because I know what it is to feel alone, ashamed about some mess I’ve created but either too proud to admit it, unsure how to reverse the damage that’s been done, or afraid that an attempt to do so would only result in further rejection.

I can’t presume to know Hagar’s thoughts or emotions but I definitely know what it is to fall into a pit I dug myself… and being the one responsible for the unraveling of everything doesn’t make dealing with the fallout any easier.

The worst thing about trying to run away from our problems is that we can’t run away from ourselves.

The best thing is that we also can’t run away from God.

How comforting to know that, no matter how lost we feel, we aren’t lost to Him!

We live in a world where social media invites us to promote ourselves shamelessly, yet instead of feeling more connected, more visible, more understood, it seems unfortunately commonplace that we feel more isolated and less understood than ever.

We get used to not seeing and not being seen.

When our cries go unheard and our efforts to connect leave us feeling even more alone than we were to begin with, how comforting to know that the God of the universe is paying attention (down to the number of hairs on our heads).

I hope that as you go about your life this week, whether or not you feel seen or understood by anyone else, you’ll feel completely overwhelmed by your transparency before God.

I hope you understand how understood you really are.

May you bask in the love of Him who treasures you like no other and let that love sink in!

( Hagar does go home and Abram becomes a father at the age of 86, giving the child a name that couldn’t have been more perfect… Ishmael, translated “God hears.”)

Blessings until next time, Kim