Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. Then Sarai said to Abram, "My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me." So Abram said to Sarai, "Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please." And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai." The Angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand." Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude." .....Then Hagar called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are- the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, "Have I also here seen Him who sees me?"
(Gen 16:3-10, 13)
Sarai was impatient and unreasonable. Abraham was passive. Hagar was ungrateful and arrogant.
Then in the midst of all these negative attitudes, there is ‘God-Who-Sees’ (Gen.16:13) and cares.
There may be many days when we find ourselves surrounded by people with negative attitudes and negative circumstances.
Are we able (like our Father) to stand apart and continue to reflect the tenderness of God?
Heavenly Father, Jesus said that I am not of this world just as He is also (Jn.17:14). But too often I get sucked into the whining and complaining that goes on all around me. Help me to remember that You see all that is going on and You care for the least of us, so that I may rise above the circumstance and lift others with me into Your plan and purpose. In Jesus’ name, amen.
