Hagar. I’m thinking about her today and realizing I’ve misunderstood her. She was purchased by Abraham and Sarah to be their slave. She became their maid and surrogate because Sarah wasn’t getting pregnant. Could that have been her vision for her life; to be a slave and to be forced to be a surrogate? Pregnant, she runs away to the desert and God comes to her. God addresses her by name and by her current position, “slave-girl of Sarai,” and proceeds to re-create her vision for her life. God tells her that she, like Abraham, will have a multitude of descendants through her child. After this exchange, Hagar names God “El-roi,” the God who sees. God sees you and has a vision for your life that supersedes whatever position you find yourself in. May our vision be re-created to conform to the Divine vision.
