I am noticing something about Abram’s journey that is helping me to process my journey. Abram had ups and downs. He had twists and turns. There were moments of clarity and deep faith. There were also moments of deep struggle and real doubt.

Can I be honest with you? (You know I always am!) There are days when my focus is clear. I have a clear vision of what God is doing in my life, and I am taking steps of faith. Then there are days, and you know where I am going with this one when my walk with God seems hard and confusing. On the hard and confusing days, I can’t figure out what God is doing at the moment and why I am doubting or struggling in my faith.

Seeing Abram navigate a similar type of journey with God is actually encouraging me to dig deeper into my faith and obedience. It is encouraging me to press on in the sanctification journey. There is something helpful about seeing heroes in the faith in the midst of their real struggles and doubts, yet knowing God protected them. I think that is one of the ways God brings purpose to the pain and meaning out of the mess. Our struggles and the struggles of others don’t have to debilitate us. Rather, the struggles and doubts can encourage us to press on as we keep trusting God. I want you to know that my heart is to love and serve God more and more. My passion is to have God-sized faith that believes even when I can’t see. How about you?

Friends, buckle up for today’s passage of Scripture. Genesis 16 reads like an episode of Desperate Housewives. In today’s passage, we are going to see that life is not easy. In fact, life is messy, and relationships are hard. People are difficult, and stories are broken. In the middle of our broken lives, we can know we have been seen by the One who sees. Not only that, we can see Him in the middle of our pain. When we understand this truth, our lives are no longer defined by our mess. Instead, our lives are defined by our God.

Key Points from Genesis 16

1. We live in a broken world. (Genesis 16:1-6) Sometime later, Sarah went to Abram with an idea. Since Sarah could not get pregnant, she wanted to give her maidservant to Abram as a wife so that a line of legacy could be built through the maidservant. Sadly, Abram agreed to the plan. Enter Hagar into the story. In Old Testament times, it was not uncommon for men to have multiple wives and for the primary wife to have helpers or slaves. At this point in the story, Hagar had been with Sarah and Abram since their time in Egypt. Immediately trouble surfaced between the women. That should not surprise us because this plan was sinful from the beginning. Abram and Sarah turned to a worldly mindset and tried to control God instead of trusting in God and His plan. Abram and Sarah were in trouble the moment they stopped believing God for the promised son. This led to three outcomes:
   • Hagar despised Sarah: Hagar looked at Sarah as insignificant or of small worth. (Genesis 16:4)
   • Sarah mistreated Hagar: Sarah afflicted or oppressed Hagar. (Genesis 16:6)
   • Abram withdrew from the place of leadership: Abraham gave control of the situation to Sarah by saying, “Your servant is in your hands” (Genesis 16:6)

All of us know what it is like to deal with sin in our lives and the lives of others. Sin is serious and always carries consequences. Sin is any wrong thought, action, or reaction.

2. God Sees us in our brokenness. (Genesis 16:7-12) Sarah’s mistreatment led Hagar to the desert to escape the abuse. Most likely, Hagar was trying to go back to Egypt. In the desert, next to a spring of water, an angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar. The setting for the conversation is significant. The original Hebrew word for spring denotes the function of the eye. Specifically sight, appearance, and presence. The water in the spring provides a visual picture of God seeing Hagar, God speaking truth to Hagar, and Hagar reflecting the truth in her challenging circumstance. Two important things happen in this conversation. First, Hagar’s name is spoken. (Genesis 16:8) Prior to this, in the original writing, Hagar was referred to as a servant, maidservant, or Egyptian. Hagar saw and experienced God’s tender care and concern. The angel told Hagar to go back to Sarah and submit to her. The angel was honest with Hagar and told her several important details about her life and the life of her son. From this, the second important thing is communicated. Hagar saw and experienced the honesty of God in the difficult moments of life. Hagar learned the following things from the angel:

• Hagar’s descendants would greatly increase.
• Hagar’s child was a son.
• Hagar was told to name her son Ishmael.
• Ishmael would be a “wild donkey," and his hand would be against everyone, and everyone’s hand would be against him.
• Ishmael would live in hostility toward all of his brothers.

3. God speaks life and truth into the brokenness. (Genesis 16:13-15) Hagar was overwhelmed by this encounter. Hagar gave a name to God based on her experience, “You are the God who sees me, for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’” (Genesis 16:13) She went on to name the spring of water Beer Lahai Roi, meaning, “Well that belongs to the Living One seeing me.” (Genesis 16:14)

4. We have the opportunity to reflect truth to a broken world. (Genesis 17) Hagar returned to Abram’s house and bore a son named Ishmael. 13 years later, the Lord once again appeared to Abram and reconfirmed the covenant. (Son, Descendants, and Land) God told Abram to circumcise his entire household as a sign of the Promise. (It is in this encounter, God officially changed the name of Abraham and Sarah.) God promised to bring a son through Sarah. God would bless Sarah as the mother of nations. Abram asked about Ishmael, and God promised to bless him too, but Isaac would be the son of God’s Promise. (Genesis 17)

Transforming Truth: God Sees, Knows, and Cares for You. The story of Hagar is hard. It honestly breaks my heart. It shows the price of sin and how sin never stays contained. In our most important relationships in life, we must be diligent in protecting our lives from sin. We need to build in accountability for the weak moments and have people in our lives who are willing to tell us what we need to hear, not necessarily what we want to hear.

Still… redemption is ever on the heart and mind of God. He is the ONE who sees. He is the constant in the mess and the storm. Today, in the middle of our brokenness and pain, do we believe God sees us? Can we sit by the spring of water which is the Spring of Life… Jesus?

Jesus sees us in our brokenness and pain. He is willing and able to meet us in the mess and give us a message. He is willing and able to take our pain and create purpose. That, my friend, is who God is, and that is the type of life He offers.

Full.

Free.

Abundant.

Truth-filled

Redeemed.