January 7- God Loved Hagar

Genesis 16:1-18:15
Matthew 6:1-24
Psalm 7:1-17
Proverbs 2:1-5

One day (over a year ago), my wife Jessica was reading Genesis 16 and saw something she had never seen before. Jessica, with a tear in her eye, came to me and said, "I am so touched by God's love for Hagar." At the time, Jessica's words really didn't strike me. Even as Jessica explained that Hagar was being mistreated by Sarah (at the time Sarai), and that God loved Hagar in spite of all that she would bring into the world, I still didn't see what Jessica was seeing. I knew the story well and at the time wasn't really touched by it. However, as I read the story of Hagar and Ishmael today, I actually did catch a glimpse of what my wife had been speaking about. Sarah had become jealous of Hagar for becoming impregnated by her husband (something Sarah had originally wanted). Then during the pregnancy, Sarah abused Hagar (by Abram's permision), until Hagar was forced to flee. However, God showed love and compassion to Hagar by blessing her.

The story really is obvious when one ignores the characters involved. If there was a story of abuse in the Bible, we would expect a loving God to care for and bless the broken individual who was abused. However, this story is different because the abuser is God's man of faith Abraham and his wife Sarah. Likewise, the abused individual is Hagar, mother of Ishmael, mother to the Muslim faith. Yes, by allowing Hagar to die, Ishmael would have never been born, and neither would the Muslim religion. So, I (playing the Devil's advocate) ask the question, "Why not allow the abuse? Why not bring death?" This is probably a much deeper subject than I can touch here, but my opinion is that God helped Hagar because God truly loves people. This question could be taken in other directions as well. For example, "Why did God create people at all, if he knew they would reject him? Why did God give Adam and Eve the choice to eat of the fruit in the garden? Why did God come to earth, if he knew what people would do to him?" Logically, one could think "God has made some foolish decisions." However, when we consider his great love, the decisions made by God are not foolish, but true to his character. One day, I'll allow my daughter to drive a car, I'll send my daughter to college, and I'll pay for my daughter's wedding. How do I know that Alison won't have a car accident? What makes me think that my little girl won't get into the wrong crowd in college? How do I know that the guy I'm allowing her to marry isn't bad for her? Logically, maybe I should just stick Alison in a box and lock it up tight for safe keeping. Maybe fear could motivate me to never let my daughter see the light of day again. No... rather, I'm gonna show her love, give her healthy freedom, and trust her to make wise decisions. Why? Because that's what God does. God shows love, even if the possibility exists that it could backfire. Maybe God judges individuals for who they are, and not for the fear of what they could become. Maybe God loves individual people in spite of the fear. Perfect love casts out fear, and our God is a loving God rather than a fearful one!