Reflection: Hagar’s son and the God who sees Further reading Genesis 21:14-19
This can be a difficult part of Abraham’s story to understand. Abraham is sending his son and the child’s mother, Hagar, out into the desert. It looks as if he’s discarding them, as if Hagar and her son represent Abraham’s plan B.
But Hagar’s son, Ishmael, was never God’s plan B. God always saw him, just as he has always seen us. In an earlier part of Hagar’s story, she names God, ‘the God who sees me’ (Gen 16:13). She’s already been given a revelation of God’s character and in this story, God doubles down. He not only sees Hagar, he sees her young son, because he sees all.
This story delivers a powerful truth for rejected, oppressed women and their ‘unwanted’ children. It delivers a powerful truth to anyone whose story took a sharp turn they could not have predicted, to anyone who has felt abandoned and alone. If you have ever doubted God sees you, this story is for you. You were never God’s plan B.
Like Hagar, our distress can overwhelm us. We can feel powerless whenever we see children in pain. But God speaks to us, as to Hagar, and reminds us he is in charge. He says – I have a plan for these children, get up, give them a drink – and then he provides the water.
This is a profound hope for families suffering injustice and poverty around our world. And this hope keeps us engaged with children on the margins. Because no matter how broken our world appears, God has a plan, and he is at work.
Question: How might God be calling you to come along side children who might be in need of care, support, prayer and water?
Prayer: Father God, who sees us, thank you for your all-knowing nature. We pray for children around our world in situations as precarious as Ishmael’s. And we trust you to provide for them through us, that they would not merely survive but thrive. Amen.