When God Shows Up: The Impossible Stories of Sarah and Hagar

August 15, 2021 Georgia Tanner

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Genesis 18:14a ESV

This is the story of God showing up. In unlikely places. At unlikely times. With impossible messages for two women who are in impossible situations. But God has a question for both, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” It is a good question. We will do well to think about it.

Last week we left Hagar, pregnant and alone in the desert. God had sent His angel to find her - telling her she was seen, and she was heard. He sent her back into the tents of Sarai, with the name of her coming son whispering reassurance in her heart, “Ishmael – The Lord hears.”

This week God shows up again. This time he makes an appearance at the tents of Abram and Sarai – who have both been renamed; Abram to Abraham (from ‘exalted father’ to ‘father of a multitude’!) and Sarai to Sarah (from ‘my Sarah or my princess’ to ‘princess, woman of strength, mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her’ (Genesis 17:15-16)). This whole idea of the Lord caring about our names is beautiful and humbling and too deep and wide to visit today. Let’s just say for the moment, when the Lord enters our lives, he not only changes our names He also changes us to reflect the future He has for us. Names - like words – are incredibly important to God. Soon He will bring another name into the lives of Abraham and Sarah.

All this conversation about names was happening when God was establishing a covenant called circumcision with Abraham. Again, too much to get into today – but while God was teaching Abraham about this beautiful ceremony of belonging, He also reaffirmed a coming son through Sarah. This son of Sarah’s would be the son of God’s Promise – not Ishmael. This not yet conceived, not yet born son would be named ‘Isaac’. And the meaning is surprising and delightful; ‘laughter’. And that is exactly what Abraham did.

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Genesis 17:17

Soon afterward 'three men' showed up at the tents of Abraham and Sarah. This is where this story was headed before I got side-tracked with names. So, pay attention to this: three men. Why three 'men'? We followers of 'the Jesus to come' believe the mystery of our God is Three in One: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Abraham begs his three visitors to stay for dinner, and before long, as they rest in the shade and feast on roasted meat and curds and cakes made from the finest four, they ask Abraham a question, “Where is your wife, Sarah?” Told she is in the tents, the Lord declares, “This time next year, I will return and Sarah your wife will have a son.” It is Sarah’s turn to laugh. And the Lord calls her out on it!

The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” Genesis 18:13-15

Is anything too hard for the Lord? This word 'hard' is also translated as 'impossible' or 'wonderful'. Use any of those translations and the meaning is the same. "Is anything too impossible for the Lord?" "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?" Is it?

When Sarah heard the Lord’s voice, it was too much for her to believe. Sarah laughed at God. Have you ever felt like that? That God wasn’t to be trusted? That nothing good could be possible for you? Our God is an unbelievable God. It is hard to trust Him. It is hard to believe Him. But God can do things we think are too hard, too unbelievable, too impossible, too wonderful.

Sure enough, a year later, Sarah is holding a son named Isaac in her arms and laughing.

God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; God did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded.

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.

Sarah said,

God has blessed me with laughter

and all who get the news will laugh with me!

She also said,

Whoever would have suggested to Abraham

that Sarah would one day nurse a baby!

Yet here I am! I've given the old man a son!

Genesis 21:1-7 The Message

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” God was able to do what Sarah could not. God was trustworthy. God kept His Promise to Abraham. And to Sarah. But what about those other two, Hagar and Ishmael? What about God’s promises for them?

If you keep reading, it sounds like this story is going in a really bad direction. A little time passes. Sarah weans Isaac and they throw a party to celebrate. Ishmael – probably at that difficult annoying on the cusp age between child and teen laughs at his half-brother Isaac. Mocking him, I am sure. Sarah is protective. And furious. And demands Abraham do something about it. It is his fault (again!) that she is made to feel the sting of her previous sin of trying to play God. “Get rid of them both!” is her solution.

And halleluiah, Abraham is finally learning where to find guidance for his problems. He seeks out God, His Lord. But God’s response is surprising. It sounds bad. And impossible.

Number one: Listen to Sarah. Do as she asks.

Number two: Isaac, the son of Sarah is the son I promised you. The entire world will be blessed through him.

Number three: But I will make your son Ishmael, the son of Hagar, the slave woman, into a nation.

What does Abraham do? He packs a little picnic lunch, sends Hagar and their son Ishmael out into the wilderness. With a little sheepskin pouch of water. Alone. Seriously, God? You think this is a good idea?

This is a death sentence. Some desert environments are so brutal and dangerous a person can die within hours from the heat of the blazing sun and dehydration. While I was studying this passage, I was also reading The Lost Man by Jane Harper, set in the Australian outback. From page one I looked down from an aerial view as a man desperately sought shade from the shadow of a tombstone, dying of thirst before the day was done. Water. We need a lot of it. Up to 60% of the human adult body is composed of water. The lungs are 83% water. Muscles and kidneys are 79% water. The brain and heart are 73% water. The skin contains 64% water and even the bones are watery at 31%.

It isn’t long before the water is gone. Hagar places her beloved son Ishmael in the tiny shade she can find from a plant. And she walks off far enough to not have to watch him die. The distance of a bow shot. She knows she also will soon die. She weeps. She cries out to God. That same God who ‘sees her’. Remember Him?

And God is there.

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Then 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.

God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt. Genesis 21:17-21

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Remember the name the Lord gave her son – 'Ishmael - The Lord hears'. There was a name Hagar had given God at that time: "The Living One Who Sees Me" (Genesis 16:13). Now – in desperation from a true death sentence – The Lord hears her cries and the cries of her son. He sees her. He calls her by name. And He saves her.

These God conversations are so… slightly crazy! Seriously. Look at it with me. “What is the matter, Hagar?” this angel asks. Well, do you have a minute? Let me explain what is going on here.

And then there is the typical angel response: “Do not be afraid.” So Hagar and I are both wondering if she shouldn’t be afraid of the angel… or dying by thirst? But we don’t have to think about it very long because the angel immediately seems to have a really good solution to this desert and no water business.

“Lift the boy up and take him by the hand – I have big plans for him. I will make him into a great nation.” (My paraphrase.)

God knew Hagar’s biggest fear was for the safety and the future of her son. Remember – under the original plans of Sarah, this son would be taken away from Hagar and would be raised as Sarah’s own son! Right? But God has given Sarah her own son – against all odds – and now Sarah can’t wait for Hagar and Ishmael to be gone! The Lord has removed them from that ‘dangerous situation’ – even though it looked like they were being condemned. Instead, they were being saved. This is so very God.

And without missing a beat, God opened Hagar’s eyes to see something she had not seen before. A well filled with water. This is our God. Our God of life-giving water in the desert. Our God of the impossible. Our God of salvation. Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?

And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. Genesis 21:20

We don’t have the details. We don’t know how it happens – but we know God was there with them. He did not abandon them. He provided water and hope. Ishmael became an archer, which meant 2 things: he could find food and he could defend them. And Hagar found him a wife from her own people in the land of Egypt.

If you follow the story further, Ishmael, son of Hagar, will help Isaac, son of Sarah, bury Abraham when he dies. Ishmael will have 12 sons. He will become the father of the Arab nations. Sarah’s son Isaac will have a son named Jacob who God will rename Israel. He also will have 12 sons and become the father of the Jewish nations. From Sarah’s barren womb would come a promised son who would bless all nations; his name would be Jesus.

Where did all of this begin? With the intertwined stories of Sarah and Hagar. Sarah was beautiful. But she carried the deep sorrow of not being able to have children – therefore she was worthless. In her own eyes. And in everyone else’s. Can you imagine feeling worthless? A failure? All her plans to succeed only made things worse. Until it became an impossible situation.

And there was Hagar. A stranger in a foreign culture. She was invisible. Powerless. Young. Alone. Used. Abused. Everything she had was taken from her. Her freedom. Her rights over her own body. Her son. She had nothing. She had nobody. She found herself weeping to God, waiting for death.

Is anything impossible for God?

Both Sarah and Hagar were broken. Broken-hearted. But God. God knew their hurts. Their sorrows. Their situations. God heard their cries of despair. God saw them when they were invisible. God spoke into their silence. He brought laughter into Sarah’s hopelessness. He brought water into Hagar’s desert. The Lord alone was their salvation.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

I ask you again: Is anything too hard for the Lord?

My dear friend and neighbor, Hannah An is releasing a new album, but this song Sweet Embrace from her album Songs From the Father’s Heart seems perfect for the stories of Sarah and Hagar.

https://youtu.be/B0rx1h_bEUQ

Photo: https://diklalaor.photography/women-of-the-bible-gllery/

Name Changes:

https://weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/the-meaning-of-the-hebrew-names/

https://www.gotquestions.org/name-change.html

Water and the human body: H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158