Hagar: A Mother Who Ran Towards Greatness

A Mother Overcoming a Bad Situation

A Mother is a Special Woman – Part 3

For most of us who know her story, it’s a pretty messed up story. She was chosen by Sarai, the mother of all mothers, to have a child with her husband, Abram, when she could not. In other words, Hagar stepped in as a surrogate mother, if you can believe this. Imagine this situation and yes, it is in the Bible.

We may not be seen as great, but that doesn’t mean we are not.
Every woman isn’t seen as great, but that doesn’t mean they’re not. Hagar was such a woman and became such a mother.

Abraham’s wife, Sarai was unable to bear children of her own. As a result she came up with this great idea to have her servant, Hagar be a surrogate mother. Even if you don’t know the story, you can already begin to imagine how this scenario is going to play out. Let’s just say for the sake of time that these two were at odds upon the pregnancy.^[1]

Since she was an employee or slave, as the Bible indicates, to Sarai, Abraham gave Sarai permission to deal with Hagar in any way she saw fit.^[2] Have you ever been in a situation where you had very little control of what happens in your life? This was Hagar. Before taking on this task, her life was going as expected; life was normal and tolerable. After she’d done what was requested, her life takes a turn for the worse. That’s life right? But how we deal with life is what makes the difference. What a way to start motherhood, right?

Allow me to interject something here. This partnership between Sarai and Hagar shouldn’t surprise you. Neither should we be shocked at what happens in their relationship. Nor should we be taken back at how Abraham handles the situation. All of this is normal. In fact, we can think of situations just like this even today. It’s how a normal person would deal with such a situation.

In spite of all the tension and growing problems, Hagar was great for at least one reason, she could provide for someone who at the time couldn’t provide for herself. Regardless of the outcomes we experience, we must be able to see what really matters in every situation.

We may run from our situations, but in our running we’re always running towards God.
We may run from our situations, but in our running we’re always running towards God whether we know it or not. If Hagar were speaking to us, maybe she’d say that even when doing the right thing it can go wrong for you. Does anyone know what that feels like?

While it seems that doing the right thing should always produce results that are favorable, sometimes they do not.

Hagar had enough of the harsh treatment she was experiencing and ran away. While I’m not suggesting that running away is the answer, even if you must run, there’s a strong possibility that you’re only running into God. Let me say it another way as not to confuse running away as an act of running to God. God is everywhere so no matter where you run, you’re running towards Him. So instead of running away from a problem, run towards God since you can’t actually evade Him no matter the situation.

Hagar found herself running and ended up in the presence of God, who did what most women and most mother’s enjoy most. God had a conversation with Hagar and gave her the advice she needed.^[3] It might not have been the advice she wanted to hear, but it was the advice she needed. He says stop running and turn back.^[4] Is it time for you to stop running and turn back? If you haven’t in a while, don’t you think it’s time to have a conversation with God? You have to admit, this is where most of us (51% or more) miss it. We know what God is telling us to do and won’t do it. What if we decided to do what God says? Wouldn’t that action set us up for uncommon results? That’s what happened to Hagar.

During Hagar’s conversation with God, it’s revealed to her that God understood her situation and heard her cry of distress.^[5] I’d like to take just a second and say to the woman and mothers reading this, God hears your cries of distress. For every man reading this, take a moment today and tell every mother you celebrate that God has heard her cries of distress.

It’s said that Hagar when speaking to God said these words to Him, “You are the God who sees me.”^[5] Imagine this for a minute. No matter what you’ve gone through or what life’s thrown at you, God sees you. Say this with me, God can see me!

We pass on to our children the characteristics found within ourselves.
We pass on to our children the characteristics found within ourselves and we have the ability to produce something great. Time passed and Hagar’s son, Ishmael grew up. If you recall the tension Hagar had with Sarai (now Sarah at this time), the situation increased as the Hagar’s son and Sarah’s son grew older together. Nonetheless, Hagar was sent away for good. What’s interesting is what occurs when she’s banished from Abraham and his household.

Hagar finds herself once again in a worse situation, coming close to starvation for her son, Ishmael. God sees her and visits her once again; He sees her. This time it was the cry of her son that got His attention. Hagar’s cry got God’s attention earlier and now somehow she unknowingly passed this ability on to her son, who’s cry now got God’s attention in the same way. What we pass from us to our children? When we get God’s attention, amazing things happen. In fact, sure death for Hagar and Ishmael turned into favor, life, provision, and giftedness.[6] Ishmael became a skilled archer; he had uncommon skills. You see, a real mother has the ability to do what’s uncommon, get God’s attention. She then passes down the same ability to her children. What are you passing down to your children?

As we celebrate this Mother’s Day, be reminded of these three points about Hagar:

You may not be seen as great today, but that doesn’t mean you’re not.
You might be trying to escape a bad situation, but in running you are always running towards God.
You are passing on who you are and what you are to your child, so pass on something great.

From my family to yours, Happy Mother’s Day!

Question: when life throws you blows, how will you respond?

Reference #1: ‭‭Genesis 16:1-4 NLT, Bible.com, accessed May 5, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/GEN.16.1-4.NLT

Reference #2: ‭‭Genesis 16:6 NLT, Bible.com, accessed May 5, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/GEN.16.6-8.NLT

Reference #3: Genesis 16:7-8 NLT, Bible.com, accessed May 5, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/GEN.16.7-8.NLT

Reference #4: Genesis 16:9 NLT, Bible.com, accessed May 5, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/GEN.16.9.NLT

Reference #5: Genesis 16:11-14 NLT, Bible.com, accessed May 5, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/GEN.16.11-14.NLT

Reference #5: ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21:8-21‬ ‭NLT‬‬, Bible.com, accessed May 5, 2021, https://www.bible.com/116/gen.21.8-21.nlt

All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.