You are the God who sees me. (Genesis 16:3)This is the story of Sarah's Egyptian slave girl Hagar. Abraham and Sarah lived in Egypt for a time, and that is no doubt when Abraham procured Hagar for his wife. But Hagar is not an Egyptian name; it's Hebrew, and means forsaken. What father would name her that? Her Hebrew name, likely given by her mistress, makes her story all the more fascinating.
after Hagar got pregnant with Abraham's child, she despised Sarah and in return Sarah mistreated her, provoked by jealousy. When Hagar (Forsaken) could take it no more, she ran away to the most forsaken place she could find - the desert. There she had an encounter with God, who assured her that her cries had been heard.
As a woman, a foreigner and a slave, Hagar had no standing in society, and yet the God of the universe found her in the wilderness, met with her and comforted her there. And in the loneliest place on earth, she gave God a new name: You are the God who sees me. Can't you almost hear her? Even though I am Forsaken, you are the God who does not forsake me. Even though I am rejected, you are the God who does not reject me. Even though I am unseen, you are the God who sees me.
We all feel forsaken from time to time, but we are not forsaken, we are not rejected, and we are not unseen
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