We cry with the mom whose 26-year-old daughter was gunned down at the music festival. Her daughter’s last text simply read: “Mom, I love you so much.” Our hearts are heavy as we watch a Palestinian mom kiss her child for the last time, her guttural cries reverberating as they carry her son’s lifeless body away. The soot and ash-covered faces of the moms in the news stories cannot hide the grief that surges through them.

As we watch images of mothers in Israel and Gaza crying for their children, our hearts go out to them. As a mom myself, I can’t imagine waking up to gunfire and rockets where my children could be taken hostage or even killed.

Yet as much as we hurt for these parents, there is One whose compassion we cannot begin to comprehend.

As I read through Genesis 16, I can’t help but notice God’s grace toward one hurting mama—the Egyptian-born servant girl, Hagar.

Hagar was not just a cog in the wheel of the story God was writing. This woman, who would eventually become the matriarch of the Arab community, was significant to Him. God’s compassion for her reaches out through the pages of Scripture to touch and transform our lives.

For those unfamiliar with the story, here’s a quick rundown. God had promised descendants as numerous as the stars to Abram (who would eventually become Abraham). But after confirming His promise, God has Abram and his wife, Sarai, wait for what seems like an endless period of time for an already-aging childless couple. Sarai (who would eventually be named, Sarah) decides to “help” matters along and offers her maidservant, Hagar, as a surrogate for the couple to continue their family line.

Genesis 16 records that, after she conceives, Hagar begins to despise her mistress. Sarai, in turn, begins to mistreat Hagar—so much so that the slave girl flees to the desert.

One lost and mistreated Egyptian girl in the desert. How does it matter in the larger scheme of things? But here’s the thing: that one mama-to-be mattered to God. She mattered so greatly to Him that He calls her by name.

While Hagar was in the desert, the angel of the Lord says to her: “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

That one sentence blows my mind. God knows this slave girl by name. He knows who she is. And then He engages with her asking two questions: where have you come from and where are you going? (Genesis 16:7)

Did God know the answers to those two questions? Absolutely. But He seems to ask those questions so Hagar could open up to Him as her safe space.

Right there in the middle of the desert, we meet the Lord who knows. He knows your name, your fears, your anxieties, your heartaches, and your desires.

Friend if, like Hagar, you feel like you are running without a real destination, remember that the Lord knows your every tired step. He is intimately familiar with all your ways.

While God asks Hagar to return to Sarai, He reassures her with these words: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery…” (Genesis 16: 11)

He is the Lord who hears. His ear is inclined toward you. He listens to your cries.

Maybe like Hagar, you’re slumped down and you don’t even have words to express your pain. But know the Lord hears your unspoken prayers.

But then it gets more amazing: This mistreated runaway slave girl, who had no clue where she was fleeing, catches a glimpse of this eternal and omnipotent God.

And this is what she says: “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Wow. What a picture of God’s grace and compassion. I love that Hagar says, “You are the God who sees me.”

He is the Lord who sees. But He doesn’t just see the ‘big picture’ from way up high. He sees you.

If, like Hagar, you feel unseen, overlooked, or passed over, remember that this God sees you.

God knows you by name, sees you despite the chaos, hears you above the noise,

While we treasure these truths in our hearts, may we also share them with others. Could I encourage you to pray for peace in this current crisis in the Middle East? Pray for the mamas there. While they battle fear and are engulfed in grief, may we pray that they catch a glimpse of the God who knows them by name, hears their heart’s cry, sees each of them, and meets them right where they are.

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