On Prayer (Gen 16:7-8)

“The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Gen 16:7-8a)

Most often, prayer happens when we seek the Lord.  But not always.  This is the first recorded instance in Scripture of the Lord speaking to a woman, and Hagar doesn't appear to have sought Him.  Rather, the Lord finds her after she flees from Sarah (Abram’s wife, who was mistreating her). 

Unknown to Hagar, the harsh circumstances of her life were in the Lord’s control all along.  Born in Egypt (a land not known for it’s kindness to women), at some point in her life she was sold into slavery – or perhaps she was born into that state.   At some later point she was brought north, away from her homeland.  No doubt that would mean she’d loose all hope of seeing her family, and perhaps her people, ever again.  Eventually she became a slave in Abram’s household, and she was then given to Sarah as a maid.  It might be that then, she felt her life would be a little bit better off – being a female slave to a wealthy lady might hold hope for some material comforts at least.  But sometime between verses 1 and 3, she was told by her mistress that she was to bed with the man of the household.  She is not given a voice in this matter.  When she gets pregnant, instead of rejoicing that this last humiliation at least has met it’s reason, her mistress mistreats her.  One would imagine that living in a desert, far away from her homeland, it was not a light decision to flee to the road running through the wilderness.  It would be a long, hot journey to Shur, and a longer, hotter journey on to Egypt from there.  Sarai’s mistreatment must have been quite harsh!

Imagine how lonely she must have felt!  Imagine her pain, and her feeling of rejection and helplessness.  To make it worse, now she was pregnant, with the responsibility for another life.  She sits down along the way by a well.  And the Lord speaks.  That God knows her trouble is evident in the way He addresses her, “Hagar, servant of Sarai…”  Then He asks, “…where have you come from, and where are you going?” 

We’ve seen that kind of question before.  When Adam sinned, God found him hiding in the garden and asked, “Where are you?”  It’s the kind of question that makes one realize that they are lost.  That they are apart from Him.  That they could find their way back to Him if only they follow His Voice.  It is, perhaps, the very first thing that God asks all of those He finds.  But that’s the most interesting aspect of this whole story.  God was looking.  Even when Hagar wasn’t.   Later, Hagar gives Him who did not introduce Himself a name, “You are the God who sees me.”  That she herself found Him is evident in her reason for that name, “for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” ^(v13)   Later, and perhaps reflecting on this incident, David would write, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Ps 34:18).