Genesis 16 to 19 I love the story of little Cinderella. By no fault of her own, she was treated unrighteously by her wicked stepmother and stepsisters. Her life was one of drudgery day in and day out. Her fairy godmother came and gave her a reprieve for one night and in the end, she was loved by the prince who searched for her when she fled the ball at midnight. In our reading today, we find a true Cinderella named Hagar.
It all began when Abraham didn’t trust God; went to Egypt, and bought a slave girl for Sarah. Sarah, in many ways, resembles Cinderella’s wicked stepmother in attitude and character. Impatient Sarah decided it was too hard to wait for God to give her a child and convinced Abraham to impregnate Hagar according to the custom of the culture. We wonder how long Sarah had to nag before Abraham fulfilled that order.
When Hagar obeyed and then conceived, guess what? Sarah became disenchanted and despised her and began to treat her harshly. There was no fairy godmother, no pumpkin carriage, no glass slipper, no Prince Charming, and no ball to attend. Instead, day after day Hagar worked with no relief and so she ran away. This is where God steps in and the gospel is presented.
Hagar is a picture of us before salvation. God saw her condition, heard her plea and promised that He would multiply her descendants. She responded, “The God who sees–SEES me.” Yes, like Cinderella, she returned to the dust and ashes but now she knew that God cared for her and her unborn child.
At one time we were slaves of the unrighteous wicked Satan. We may have run away from the “wicked stepmother” but God sees beyond our circumstances to what will be. He sent His beloved Son to walk with us through those circumstances. Even though we might not be able to change those, we can trust that Jesus died that we might be saved from our sins and live a life that is full and rewarding.
Are you Cinderella? Trust God to be with you. Hagar’s story is the gospel message in a nutshell.
This past Sunday, being Father’s Day, there were scores of FB posts with pictures of many who have “gone on before us.” It was notable that few if any noted the words we hear in Hebrews 11 “his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.” Many remarked how sweet the father had been, how he spent time with them etc. But, where was the affirmation of their faith? Note that Abel had no descendants and no one to recall his works and deeds but it was his faith alone that spoke for him and speaks for him now because vs 6 ‘God rewards those who seek him.” This was Abel’s legacy as he sought the favor and blessing from God recognizing that he was a sinner in need of cleansing.