Spirit of Power

Hagar

Her hands shook as she laid the child beneath the small bush, its branches scarcely enough to shield the relentless rays of heat from the boy’s face.  Her breath caught as she stumbled back, unwilling to watch the inevitable taking place.  Turning the opposite direction, she lay down and curled her knees tightly to her chest.  If only Abraham were here, he might at least take their son to safety. But, no he’d been the one to leave them in this wilderness assuring her a caravan would be by giving her enough coin to ensure their passage and their safety.  Weeks had passed and the useless coins now lay scattered next to the empty wineskin.  How could he do this?  How could he abandon their son?  Their son.  It was never meant to be so.  Ishmael was to be Abraham and Sarah’s son.  Never hers.  She’d obeyed Sarah, she always obeyed Sarah it was all she’d known her entire life.  How could she have known the fierce passion and love she would feel for her child, the only thing in life that had ever been hers?  They’d forgotten to include emotion in all the careful planning.  Hagar, as much as she tried could not deny her son, and Sarah couldn’t love him.  They’d managed until Isaac was born.  Ishmael basked in the love of Hagar and his father, Abraham despite Sarah’s indifference.  But then Isaac, the long awaited promised child arrived.  And everything changed.  Now here they were, about to die because of rivalry, of pettiness, of jealousy. Hagar felt ready though.  Ready to be done with it all, she was so very tired.  Raising her voice she began to cry her grief into the wind, perhaps it would carry them off to the other side of this life.

A roar of thunder startled her and silenced her moaning.  “Hagar”, the voice came to her on the wind.  Looking around, she at first thought Abraham had returned, but the voice continued carried on the wind picking up around her.  “Hagar, fear not.  God hath heard the voice of your son where he is.  Arise, pick him up and carry him to safety for I will make him a great nation.” Recognizing a power beyond the earth, Hagar obeyed without thought.  Turning to Ishmael, she saw he still breathed and that his lips moved.  Leaning closer she recognized the words as those Abraham prayed to his God.  Ishmael had been praying while she had been ready to die.  Looking up, Hagar stared in disbelief unwilling to believe what her eyes beheld for just beyond the bush lay a small pool of water. 

“Ishmael, Ishmael we are saved.”  Hagar took her son’s hand and brought him to his feet, the weight of his body leaning upon her heavily in his weakness.  Together they made it to the water and knelt to drink life back into their bodies.

 

Hagar’s life story seems often overlooked, only a small part of the account of Abraham and Sarah.  How her story seems to speak to us though.  Perhaps because we have too many times found ourselves or others we are close to, a slave to events beyond our control.  Hagar obeyed her mistress, bore a child and in doing so became cut off from the only life she’d ever known.  Yet, in her weakest moment God spoke to her and gave her instruction which she followed. Despite the fact that they were facing death God said “Fear Not!”  Fear, one of our greatest enemies will rob us from hearing God and will keep us from finding that refuge and present help only to be found in him (Psalms 46:1-2).  But we have scripture after scripture to trust in, to help us when we don’t know what to pray, over and over we are told “Fear Not!”, in fact about 80 times are we told to fear not and another 30 to not be afraid, do not fear, etc.  The next time you are facing a situation that has dehydrated you to the point of spiritual exhaustion, and you just want to walk away remember the instructions to Hagar, “Fear Not, Arise…”, and get up and keep going.  God will provide the water you need (John 4:14), He will be with you every step of the way (Matthew 28:20), He will see you through (Philippians 4:6-7).  Lastly, remember you have the power to “do something” because that power comes from the love of God living in your heart 2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us not the spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.