Hagar: Unwanted and Unloved

Imagine being uprooted from your home and thrown into a life of servitude to a complete stranger who is also a foreigner with a completely different culture. This is exactly what happened to Hagar who is an interesting character in the Bible to say the least. Usually she is thought of in a negative light; a symbol of not waiting on God's plan but recently I came to a thought-provoking realization. She was the first woman that God reached out to in a personal way. Of course she was not the first woman spoken to by God; there was Eve who was reprimanded for her sin and Sarah, confronted for her laugh but Hagar experienced something special.
When she fled from her mistress while pregnant with Ishmael the Bible says, "The angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness"; he found her which indicates he was looking for her. Here was a woman who was pushed on her master by her mistress to conceive a child which she did. This knowledge caused Hagar to despise Sarah invoking her wrath and a harsh reprimand. Hagar fled from her mistress's face out into the desolate wilderness but her difficult situation did not go unnoticed by God.
With gentleness, He instructs her to return to her mistress but not before giving her a promise to claim; her child would be great. In fact, God tells her that she will have a son, tells her that his seed will be greatly multiplied and even gives him a name, Ishmael meaning God listens. Hagar also has a name for God, "Thou God seest me", an indication that this meeting left an imprint in her soul.
However, this would not be her last encounter with God; almost fourteen years later she would experience the mercy of God. Isaac has now been born and Sarah wants to send Hagar away which, after God telling him it would be all right, Abraham does. Alone in a desolate place she watches her young, teenage son collapse from the heat of the wilderness. Realizing that he was dying she placed him by some nearby shrubs but sat a short distance away because she could not bear to watch him die. There, in her state of brokenness and despair, God reached out to her asking her, "What aileth thee Hagar?" and telling her to fear not for He would make a great nation from her son. In that deserted place God provided water for both, her and her son and was with Ishmael as he grew.
I don't know about you but I personally was greatly encouraged by this thought. Even though Hagar never accepted God fully into her life He still loved her. For me, as His child, I can be assured that He loves me too, faults, shortcomings and all! There will never be a day when He does not love me or want me as His beloved child!

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