This is the story of Hagar... YES! Hagar. I know a lot of people don't know who Hagar is... Most people know this story as Sarah and Abraham's story when they were called Sarai and Abram.
Unexpectedly I learned a lot about this story from Hagar's perspective.
"The angel said to her, 'Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?' 'I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,' she replied." Genesis 16:8 This verse spoke to me in a moment when I think I needed it the most. At first I wasn't sure why it stood out to me, it just caught my eye. The ore I began to read it, the more it spoke to my heart.
I encourage you to read the entire story. Here's what God spoke to me and I hope it blesses you the way it blessed me.
God cares about what's on our mind. He cares about what's on our hearts. Sometimes we're so scared and we want to brush things under the rug, we want to run away from them and never look them in the eye again. God already knows the depth of our hearts, he already knows the hurts, the fears, and the gunk in our heart. Yet he wants to listen. He wants to be the shoulder you lean on. He says "where have you come from" he cares about our past and what we've gone through. He wants to know where you're going. Don't be mislead, he already knows where you're going, but he wants to hear it from you. He wants you to own it. I can only imagine him saying this like a concerned parent or spouse. When someone is hurt and runs away, you want to run after then and say "WAIT!! Where are you going? I care!! Let me listen." Instead of bottling it all up and running from it when it becomes too much to handle, we should just pour our hearts out to Him. 1Peter 5:7 says "Cast your anxiety on him BECAUSE HE CARES"* Hagar was hurt by the person who was supposed to care for her. The person she probably looked up to and learned from. Sarai put her in a bad, ugly, awkward position that Hagar didn't want to be in. She just wanted to run from that hurt, but God wanted her to know how much he cared!
Know that HE cares. Even if you feel like NO ONE cares, know that GOD cares!!!
*Emphasis given by me.
Unexpectedly I learned a lot about this story from Hagar's perspective.
"The angel said to her, 'Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?' 'I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,' she replied." Genesis 16:8 This verse spoke to me in a moment when I think I needed it the most. At first I wasn't sure why it stood out to me, it just caught my eye. The ore I began to read it, the more it spoke to my heart.
I encourage you to read the entire story. Here's what God spoke to me and I hope it blesses you the way it blessed me.
God cares about what's on our mind. He cares about what's on our hearts. Sometimes we're so scared and we want to brush things under the rug, we want to run away from them and never look them in the eye again. God already knows the depth of our hearts, he already knows the hurts, the fears, and the gunk in our heart. Yet he wants to listen. He wants to be the shoulder you lean on. He says "where have you come from" he cares about our past and what we've gone through. He wants to know where you're going. Don't be mislead, he already knows where you're going, but he wants to hear it from you. He wants you to own it. I can only imagine him saying this like a concerned parent or spouse. When someone is hurt and runs away, you want to run after then and say "WAIT!! Where are you going? I care!! Let me listen." Instead of bottling it all up and running from it when it becomes too much to handle, we should just pour our hearts out to Him. 1Peter 5:7 says "Cast your anxiety on him BECAUSE HE CARES"* Hagar was hurt by the person who was supposed to care for her. The person she probably looked up to and learned from. Sarai put her in a bad, ugly, awkward position that Hagar didn't want to be in. She just wanted to run from that hurt, but God wanted her to know how much he cared!
Know that HE cares. Even if you feel like NO ONE cares, know that GOD cares!!!
*Emphasis given by me.