Sarai and Hagar and me

Genesis 16 got me today! So many gems in such a small chapter!!

For one, God reminded me how much I am a lot like Sarai (eventually Sarah), and how He is still so good to her and to me.

Sarai:

• Forgets the promise that God gives to her family, namely that God will provide Abram a son from his own body
• Tries to do things her way on her own strength, giving her Egyptian maidservant Hagar to Abram to conceive them an heir
• Gets frustrated when her plan doesn't work out, sadly despising and mistreating Hagar

How often do I forget the promises God makes in His word? Promises that are mine and yours and good and true and hard. How often do I get impatient with God's timing and try to take matters into my own hands, with an "I need to get this figured out now" attitude? How often do I get frustrated when I fail in my own strength, and instead of reflecting and repenting and binding myself to God, get mad, get stuck, take it out on myself, or take it out on others? Sadly, so often!

But praise God for His incredible grace! He fulfilled His promise to Sarai and Abram despite their shenanigans, and I can name a gillion ways he's blessed me despite myself. Sarai reminded me today of how good God is, how generous He is, how He is faithful to His promises, and how I can trust Him with my life in the big and small.

And Hagar, oh man did I learn from her...! She runs at the hands of Sarai (who wouldn't?!), and God, in His great mercy and kindness, pursues her and converses with her. Then something crazy happens: He tells her to go back to Sarai, who is mistreating her, and to submit to her. Whaaat? Then promises to bless her, and says some nice and not so nice things (like that her son will be a wild donkey of a man and will live in hostility toward all his brothers). I think about what I would do. Probably be ungrateful. "Thanks for showing up God, I care that you care. But seriously - go back? No way! And I'll take the increase my descendents part, but don't you have a better deal for my son? That's a little rough...! I appreciate you seeing me and all, but this is not the help I had in mind from you..." But not Hagar. She listens to God, accepts His speaking into her life, and in her amazement at God noticing her in her misery, says "You are the God who sees me" period. No whining, kicking or screaming is recorded. No ungratefulness either.

This part easily sticks with me: God noticed Hagar's misery and met her as she ran. I can remember times when God has done this for me. And I am instantly humbled and grateful!! What a good God we serve! The God who sees us! The God who notices us in our pain and in our running and pursues us and sweeps us into His arms of protection and love!

But I am keenly aware that this part also needs to stick with me: God's love and protection can also look like telling us hard truths that are good for us, even when they aren't what is in our plan, or what we want to hear, or what seems all that good at first glance. God tells Hagar to return to the very thing she is running from. The Bible doesn't say much about what happens, we just know Hagar listens to God and obeys. But I think I know how Hagar does this hard thing, because God is doing it for me right now. Knowing that God loves and sees me and is my comforter is giving me the strength I need to step into the hard things He is asking me to do. Does the hard stuff make sense? Not always, especially in the midst of the hard! But when we, like Hagar, see the One who sees us, we know He is good and has our good in mind. We know He is love and mercy and grace and justice. We know He is and always will care for us. So we willingly step back or deeper into the hard places He calls us to be, and cling to Him. If it were up to us, we'd run. But doing what He asks us to do in His strenght and under His protection is such a better plan. Sarai shows us where doing things our way and not waiting on God gets us... Isn't Hagar's way better? God is faithful to the promises He makes them both, and Hagar has to do something tough... But she does it with the big truth lovingly wrapped around her that her pursuer is the God who sees her. Knowing God sees me and loves me makes all the difference for me!

In the challenging areas and seasons of our lives, let's cling to One who sees us and asks us to go through it. Let's trust that He will see us through it and find peace in His love, provision and protection! Let's remember that He is faithful! He's been faithful to Sarai, to Hagar, and He is faithful to us. Praise be to our God, even when the path makes no sense and is just plain tough! He is tougher. And He makes us tough enough.