The God who sees the mother on her own
A teaching for mothers · Genesis 21:14–19
14Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 15When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies. 18Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
Context
Hagar was an Egyptian servant whom Sarah gave to Abraham to bear him a son, a custom of the time. Ishmael was born. Years later, with the birth of Isaac, the conflict at home grows, and Abraham sends Hagar and the boy away with bread and a skin of water. It wasn’t the first time she was alone in the wilderness: in Genesis 16:13, she had called the Lord the God who sees.
What the Bible teaches
Hagar is perhaps the rawest portrait of a single mother in the Bible: sent away with little, solely responsible for a child in a place with no resources. When the water runs out, she leaves the boy under a bush, moves away and weeps: “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” There’s no pretty religious phrase here. There is despair, and the Bible doesn’t hide it.
God responds in a surprising way: he hears “the voice of the boy” and speaks to the mother. The first question is personal: “What is wrong, Hagar?” He calls her by name, she who to others was just the servant. Then comes a command: “Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand.” God doesn’t replace the mother; he gives her back the strength to hold her child again.
And then: “God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.” The well may already have been there; she couldn’t see it. Many single mothers are too exhausted to see the help available: a legal right, a relative, a church, a public service. Part of God’s care is opening eyes. And part of the church’s mission is to be that well, without judgment.
In practice
List three available sources of help (people, services, church) and reach out to one of them this week. If you know a single mother, offer something concrete: an afternoon, a ride, a meal.
To talk about
Who has been a well in the desert for our family, and who can we be one for?
Prayer
God who sees and hears, there are days when I feel alone in the wilderness. Call me by name, open my eyes to the help that already exists and give me strength to hold my children by the hand. And make me a well for another mother. Amen.