Hagar in the desert by Pompeo Batoni
When my granddaughter, Brianna, and I met this past Thursday for our discipleship/Bible study, Hagar was our subject.
Hagar makes her appearance early in the Bible in Genesis, chapter 16. She was Sarai's [Sarah] Egyptian maidservant. Sarai was past child bearing years [or so she thought], and according to the law, a barren wife could give her maidservant to her husband as a surrogate.
Hagar became prideful when she conceived. It was she who was fruitful and carrying Abram's [Abraham] child, not older, barren, Sarai. Sarai began to regret that she gave Hagar to Abram, and mistreated her harshly to the point where Hagar ran away.
While sitting near a spring in the desert, an angel appeared and told Hagar to return to Sarai and submit to her. The angel told her she would bear a son and she should name him Ishmael, which means "God hears" - because God had heard Hagar's misery.
In response to the angel's visit, Hagar gave a name to the Lord - "El Roi" - You are the God who sees me. She is the only person recorded in the Bible to give God a name.
Our take-away from Hagar's story:
Hagar makes her appearance early in the Bible in Genesis, chapter 16. She was Sarai's [Sarah] Egyptian maidservant. Sarai was past child bearing years [or so she thought], and according to the law, a barren wife could give her maidservant to her husband as a surrogate.
Hagar became prideful when she conceived. It was she who was fruitful and carrying Abram's [Abraham] child, not older, barren, Sarai. Sarai began to regret that she gave Hagar to Abram, and mistreated her harshly to the point where Hagar ran away.
While sitting near a spring in the desert, an angel appeared and told Hagar to return to Sarai and submit to her. The angel told her she would bear a son and she should name him Ishmael, which means "God hears" - because God had heard Hagar's misery.
In response to the angel's visit, Hagar gave a name to the Lord - "El Roi" - You are the God who sees me. She is the only person recorded in the Bible to give God a name.
Our take-away from Hagar's story:
- God is aware of everything we experience. It doesn't matter if the situation is the result of someone else's bad judgement, or a problem of our own making. God cares!
- When Hagar encountered God through the angel's appearance, her life was totally changed. She was able to return to Sarai and live in the situation - something she hadn't thought was possible previously.
- If we place our trust in God when we find ourselves in difficult situations, He will guide and help through them.
- God protects and provides for us when we aren't even aware of it.
May God bless your week!
Before I sign off I have to share a couple of pictures from Brianna's Homecoming last week. [Grandma's bragging rights! ;-)]
Here she is with her dad who took her shopping for her Homecoming dress. He's pretty proud of her, and I'm proud of both of them! Today is Steve's birthday. They're surprising him today at church by honoring him for Pastor Appreciation. Besides his b-day, it's also his 10th anniversary as senior pastor of our church. Did you know October is Pastor Appreciation month? If you haven't told your pastor how much you appreciate him/her, there's still time!
Your graddaughter is so beautiful, and it sounds like she's beautiful inside as well as outside!
ReplyDeleteLoved the devotional today, and I also loved seeing the great photos of your son and granddaughter!
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