City Life Starter

Written by Kacee Pate

The Word

⁷ The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” ⁹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰ The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” ¹¹ And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. ¹² He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” 

¹³ So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. ¹⁵ And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. 

Genesis 16:7-16

“O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear”

Psalm 10:17

⁷ A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

John 4:7-15

Reflection

These scriptures pick up in the middle of quite the mess! As the victim of Abram and Sarai’s haste to bring about the promise of God on their own timing, Hagar has found herself pregnant according to plan but now hated for it. Her own response in the situation was not ideal because pride entered into her heart to believe she had been elevated to a higher status than Sarai, but Hagar is also distraught, disgraced, probably confused, and now we find her running away from it all. Lucky for her, she can flee from her household, but she cannot flee from God! 

What happens next is significant. By a spring of water in the wilderness, she encounters an angel of the Lord, and this is the first recorded appearance of this type in scripture. He addresses her in a style only befitting of the Most High, promising what only He can do, foretelling what only God could know. So we can know that this was no ordinary angel, but a manifestation of God Himself! There is an easily overlooked detail here that I would like to point out, and that is God calls her by name. I love this so much, because addressing her by name not only got her attention, but bestowed a position of dignity on her.

Given her current situation and her status as a servant, she probably did not feel very dignified. I can imagine she felt ashamed. Yet, this is precisely how He begins the encounter, which was not only loving but extremely counter culture for their time. He will call her to return to her uncomfortable and less than ideal circumstances (as part of the ultimate working out of His plan), but He also fills her with hope and encouragement and gives her a glimpse of her future son. Her response to this encounter is one of gratitude and worship, saying “you are a God of seeing.” In her affliction, in her great distress and mess, God Himself has heard her cries and has seen her! She memorialized her encounter by naming the well “Beer-lahai-roi” which means the well of the Living One who sees me. Surely this changed her life forever! Also, the name of her son, Ishmael, means “God sees.” 

Now, if a divine encounter with an outcast woman at a well sounds familiar, that’s because we see the New Testament counterpart in John 4 when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman. Look at the parallels we see here: both are women, both are not of Abraham’s family, both are at a well, both are sinners, and yet God treats both with compassion, gives them special revelations, and bestows on them unconventional dignity. Make no mistake that the Bible with its repetitions and themes are very intentional and inspired. God is so gracious to remind us throughout scripture that in our lowest moments, when the world would look upon us with contempt and cast us out, when it would seem that God shouldn’t have anything to do with us, He seeks us out in His great love and grace, hears our cries, and sees us when we feel invisible. What an amazing God indeed!

Application

Can you think of a time that you felt seen by God like these women right in the middle of your mess? Remembering God’s past faithfulness and provision gives us confidence for future faith in His promises, so take some time to reflect on these times and express your gratitude to Him! 

Or do you currently feel like these women and wonder if God sees you? Does He see your situation and affiliations? Let these encounters build your faith to have confidence that He does, in fact, see you right where you are and hears you! He is for you and wants to be with you, even if you feel far away. Take a moment to enter into honest prayer and pour your heart out to Him. “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear” (Psalm 10:17).

Prayer

God, thank You for always seeing me. You are the God of the universe and yet You know the number of hairs on my head. Even when I’m on the run, when I’ve tried to do things my own way, You respond with grace and mercy toward me and in Your goodness show Yourself to me. Forgive me when I doubt Your plans for my life and when I’ve tried to make it happen in my own timing. Help me to have eyes of faith to see how You are moving and to know that I am loved right where I am and never alone. I praise You for Your faithfulness and loving kindness! In Jesus’ name, amen.