The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?... The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing” (Gen.16:7,8,9,13)
There are four factors to be noted in the above verses:
Firstly, the place “in the wilderness”. Hagar had fled from Sarai’s harsh hand. Having fled from the abuse of Sarah, she still had not reached a pleasant place. She is in the desert, and that’s not a great place to be either. There may be times when we try to escape a harsh situation, thinking we can secure our future, only to find ourselves in a wilderness, unsure of where to go.
Secondly, we need to note the Angel of the Lord’s question to Hagar: “Where have you come from, and where are you going?”. The question pertains to both the past (where have you come from?) and the future (where are you going?), while it was asked in the present experience of Hagar in the wilderness. Hagar clearly remembers the past experience, which was Sarah’s harshness. Still, she doesn’t know where she is going; the future is unknown, and her current position in the wilderness is no answer either. God meets us in our present wilderness, while He clearly knows our past and our uncertain future, and we cannot find a solution by running away.
Thirdly, we need to note the solution the Angel of the Lord offered to Hagar: “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” This solution is strange because it is exactly what Hagar is trying to escape from, but the Angel of the Lord directs her back to the harshness she was trying to avoid. When we are tempted to run away, God comes with a directive saying that we need to remain in those places or state of life where God has placed us and trust in His watching eyes rather than trying to run away according to our thoughts which will only takes us out of Sarah’s harshness and places us in the harshness of the wilderness. At times, remaining is better than running.
Fourthly, we must note Hagar’s understanding of God through this encounter in the wilderness: "You are a God of seeing." What caused Hagar to return to her harsh mistress in obedience to the angel’s direction? It is her understanding of God that stems from her encounter in the wilderness. The very nature of God is that he is always seeing us. He watches us in our past experiences, future uncertainties, and present perplexities. Even in our most isolated experiences, we are not unseen. The only bridge between our unpleasant past and unknown future is to trust in the God who always sees us at all times.
-Pastor