Sarah & Hagar: God Sees Both Stories

Sarah and Hagar share one of the most complicated, uncomfortable, and human stories in Scripture. There are no neat edges here. No one is perfectly right. No one is completely wrong. There is pain, jealousy, power imbalance, longing, obedience, impatience, and deep hurt.

And yet, right in the middle of it, God shows us something essential about His character:

**God sees the woman with the promise and the woman caught in the consequences of someone else’s decisions.**

He sees both stories.

Sarah: The Woman with the Promise Who Grew Tired of Waiting

Sarah’s story begins with a promise that feels almost cruel in its timing. God tells Abraham:

“I will make you into a great nation.” (Genesis 12:2)

Years pass. Then decades. And Sarah once beautiful, once hopeful, grows old waiting for a child that never comes. Scripture doesn’t hide her frustration.

She watches her body change. She watches time slip away. She watches God’s promise feel further and further out of reach. And eventually, Sarah does what many of us do when waiting becomes unbearable:

She tries to help God along.

She gives her servant Hagar to Abraham, believing that maybe this is how the promise will be fulfilled. This wasn’t uncommon culturally, but it was devastating in regard to the biblically sacred covenant of a marriage between man and wife.

Waiting without trust often leads to control.

Sarah believed God’s promise, however she just struggled to believe God’s timing. And that struggle would cost more than she realized.

Hagar: The Woman Without Power Caught in Someone Else’s Plan

Hagar doesn’t get a choice. She is a servant, a slave, an Egyptian woman with no authority in Abraham’s household. She is given to Abraham, not asked. She becomes pregnant, not by desire, but by instruction. And once she conceives, everything changes.

Genesis 16:4 tells us:

“When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.”

Pain doesn’t excuse pride, but it explains it. Hagar suddenly holds something Sarah desperately wants. And Sarah, wounded and angry, turns her frustration onto Hagar. Scripture says Sarah treated her harshly, so harshly that Hagar runs away into the wilderness.

This is important:

**Hagar suffers not because of her own choices, but because of someone else’s impatience and power.**

And God sees it.

The God Who Sees the Invisible

In the wilderness, pregnant, alone, and afraid, Hagar encounters something rare in Scripture:

God seeks her. Not Abraham. Not Sarah. Hagar.

An angel of the Lord meets her in the desert and speaks directly to her. And Hagar responds with words that change everything:

“You are the God who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)

This is the first time in Scripture a human gives God a name. El Roi — The God Who Sees. Hagar is the first person in the Bible to testify that God sees the invisible, the mistreated, the powerless, and the overlooked. She returns to Abraham’s household with a promise: Her son, Ishmael, whose name literally means “God hears” , will live, survive, and be protected.

God does not abandon her even when the situation is messy.

Sarah’s Joy and Her Fear

Years later, against all odds, Sarah conceives. God keeps His promise. Isaac is born, and Sarah laughs, not in doubt this time, but in joy. But joy doesn’t erase insecurity.

When Sarah sees Ishmael and Isaac together, fear rises again. She worries about inheritance, legacy, and control. And once more, Hagar and her son are sent away. This time, they wander into the desert with little water and no plan.

Again. And again, God meets Hagar there. He provides water. He reassures her. He protects Ishmael. (Genesis 21:14–19)

Here is the uncomfortable truth Scripture doesn’t soften:

**God keeps His covenant with Isaac and He still cares deeply for Ishmael.**

God is not limited to loving only the “chosen” path. He sees and sustains those hurt along the way.

Two Women. Two Roles. One God Who Sees All

Sarah represents the woman holding a promise but struggling with trust. Hagar represents the woman crushed under someone else’s authority. Sarah is not evil. Hagar is not perfect.

Both are human.
Both are wounded.
Both are seen by God.

This story teaches us that:

• Waiting can make us desperate
• Power can blind us to pain
• Broken systems hurt real people
• God’s plans are not stopped by human mistakes
• And God still shows mercy where humans fail

What Sarah & Hagar Teach Us Today

1. God sees women on both sides of the story.

The woman with influence and the woman without options.

2. Waiting seasons test trust.

Unhealed impatience often produces unintended harm.

3. Being used by others does not erase your worth.

Hagar’s value was never defined by her role.

4. God meets women in wilderness places.

Especially the ones sent there by someone else’s decisions.

5. God’s compassion extends beyond our categories.

He keeps promises without discarding people.

Scripture for Reflection

Genesis 12–21
Genesis 16:1–13
Genesis 21:14–19

Final Reflection

Sarah and Hagar remind us that Scripture doesn’t sanitize womanhood. It tells the truth.

About waiting.
About jealousy.
About power.
About suffering.
About survival.

And about a God who is big enough to hold all of it.

If you’ve ever been Sarah; waiting, controlling, fearing the loss of something promised. God invites you back into trust. If you’ve ever been Hagar; used, dismissed, sent away, unseen… God meets you in the wilderness and says:

“I see you.”

He always has. He sees both stories. And He is still writing redemption into them.