Hagar

"Hagar and Ishmael" by Enrico Fanfani

image from www.1st-art-gallery.com

God is recorded to have spoken to a relative few people in the Bible.

And let's be honest. Most of them were men. But there have been times when He revealed Himself to a woman. This was usually a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In the book of Genesis, God spoke to a woman three times. (One was Rebekah.) Two of those times were to the same woman: Hagar.

Who was Hagar? She was an Egyptian, a foreign slave of Abraham's. In short, she was nobody.

But God spoke to her in Genesis chapter 16, and in chapter 21.

Why?

Both times He came to her in a time of great distress and reassured her of His presence with her. In fact, Hagar herself said, "God sees me," in Genesis 16:13.

He saw her, Hagar, an obscure slave woman who wasn't even one of His chosen people.

This is just a reminder to me that He sees us all, even the seemingly unimportant.

Also that He chooses whom He chooses for His own reasons. Any person I meet could be someone God has chosen for great and mighty things. Or someone He's chosen for little-bitty things that will someday have great importance.

No one can fathom His plan or understand their own part in it.