Do you see me? part 1

Are you listening to me?!!

Have you ever wanted to shout these words to the person you are talking to? You’re in a conversation with your spouse, your boss, your best friend, and you’re talking about something that you feel is important – but they look like they’re dreaming about their next cup of coffee, or the meeting they have coming up in half an hour, or about the weekend. Or, worse yet, you find yourself in a terrible situation – bad medical diagnosis, a child running off the rails, job loss – things that really play a number on your emotional state – and the people you hope you can trust to help you carry the emotional load or who may even have an answer to your situation, are just staring at you blankly.

Hagar, an Egyptian slave in Abram’s (later to be named Abraham) household, found herself in just such a position. And there are three people (four?) at whom you could, with validity, point a finger and say, “It’s all her fault!” or “it’s all his fault!" But there’s a point when you just don’t care who started the downhill slide. You just need help.

Here’s the story, as recorded in Genesis 16:

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)

4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”

6 Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she [Hagar] finally ran away.

Yes, there are three people involved in the story, and each one carries some responsibility in how it played out. But now Hagar finds herself - pregnant, evicted from her home, alone, crossing the desert (did she even have an idea of where she was going?). And if, by some miracle, she arrived at said destination, would she be received? Could she earn a living? Find a home? What hope was there for a pregnant, single female who hadn’t been able to even keep her job as a slave?

As she walked, her desperation grew. She had no one to turn to. She was literally alone in a desert place. There was no food, and she was at the end of her rope, physically and emotionally exhausted.

Ever been there? You were doing pretty well, getting along, and then suddenly, the rug is pulled out from under you. Sometimes, it ISN’T our fault. Sometimes, if we’re honest enough to admit it, it is. But no matter how we got there, we find ourselves desperate and alone. We need help, but there is no one around to hear us. No one knows who we are or what we’re going through. No one is listening. No one sees us.

Or is there?

Continued tomorrow