She was just a servant but she acted like a woman of great value before the eyes of Abraham. She was flattered by the honor of bearing his son in her womb, his firstborn — the fruit of his strength, the pride of his manhood. With contempt and arrogance she despised her mistress, the pitiful, barren woman. But before Sarah, she was nothing but a slave and her son owned no rights to take a pebble of Abraham’s wealth.
Seeing his beloved wife greatly distressed, Abraham, with a bread and a skin of water sent Hagar and Ishmael away. He knew none of this on the day he consented with Sarah’s plan; but he knew that this was the best thing to do. He had to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael for his wife and son Isaac’s sake.
Hagar departed with her son and wandered in the desert. Her heart was wrenched in anguish seeing her son and the bread and the water in hand. Abraham was rich. He could have given her a load of food and a camel to spare their feet from the burning sand; but a bread and a skin of water?
The last piece of bread had been consumed. The last drop of water had been taken in. Now they had nothing left to supply their need. She knew she had more—more strength, more faith, more hope; but her son had not. She was pained every time she hears Ishmael wail in thirst and hunger. The pain of being made a servant, sent away, and abhorred she could take; but not the pain of seeing her son waste away in the middle of the desert under the burning heat of the sun. She took him on her arms and tucked his face into the curve of her neck. She did not want him to see her pain. She did not want him to know that they were soon to take their last breath in the wilderness and vanish from the face of the earth.
As the sun continued to suck away the life she and her son held tight, her life flashed before her mind. Back at her father’s house she was a princess but fate was hard on her. She was given to Abraham as a gift of friendship but she was made into a servant at Sarah’s tent. She served her mistress and gave her nothing but the loyalty she deserves; but she was forced to give the beauty of her youth and the bounty of her bosom to Abraham. She was envied and dealt harshly by her mistress, and she ran away. But an angel spoke to her and blessed her. She bore Abraham a son. She named him Ishmael for the Lord hears. Ishmael grew up. Isaac was born. She was again a foreigner, a slave, a stranger in a strange place. And now she had been sent away doomed to perish in the wilderness.
Looking around, she found a bush and hid Ishmael there — limp and dying. She knew he’d die first, and that she could not take. So she closed her eyes while a bowshot away from the child; and felt the tiny stream of tears carving through her sunburnt cheeks. She accepted her fate and the end that awaits her.
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Have you ever had a desert experience like Hagar? Maybe not literally but emotionally and mentally. You’ve waited for so long. You’ve gone through the wilderness of waiting and none came, nothing happened. You had painstakingly stretched your patience and perseverance waiting for a job offer, a scholarship, a child to come home, healing from debilitating disease, a change in your situation, a man or woman after God’s own heart. You’ve consumed all the strength and faith God had given you. You’ve said all pep-talks you knew; and here you are in the desert—losing hope, giving up. As you savor the last drop of water on your throat, you knew you were an inch closer to giving up.
You questioned your faith, your trust and confidence in the word of God. The words in Matthew 7:7 rang still, but your heart was too hungry, too thirsty, and too weary to trust. You hid your prayers away under the bush of pretense and rebellion; because seeing it unanswered was as heartbreaking as a clay pot smashed against a rock. You closed your eyes; and as you were about to delve into the darkness of unbelief, you heard a voice saying, “What’s the matter, my child? Fear not, I have heard your unspoken prayers.” You opened your eyes, and glimmering at a distance, you saw a well of water — a spring of hope.
Friend, waiting may really take a long long time but God has always had planted wells of water along our deserts. Whenever hope wanes, close your wandering eyes and hear Him speak through His word; and be watered by His love. No matter how the road seems to be so rugged and steep, be willing to take another mile. Because even if it is hard, there shall be brooks running with water to quench your thirst. Even if the sun hides beneath the mountains, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun. Even if your heart is shrouded in loneliness, you shall have a song and gladness of heart. At the sound of your cry, He will be gracious as He was to Hagar. And though He gives you bread of adversity and water of affliction, He will not hide Himself. What a wonderful opportunity amidst adversity!
Among billions of men, only a few had a glimpse of God. Perhaps your desert is heaven’s chosen platform where God’s fullness shall be revealed, giving you opportunity to see His face and know Him deeply. After all, when Christ reigns supreme in the heart, when the mind is fastened upon Him, waiting you shall no longer be but living in the full radiance of His love.
Bible Reading: Genesis 16, 21:1-21; Isaiah 30