God Sees and Hears (Genesis 21)
I imagine the desert heat was relentless. The wind offered no relief, only the stinging kiss of sand against bare skin. The water skin is empty, drained to its last drop. Ishmael, once a boy full of life and laughter, now lies motionless, his lips cracked, his breathing shallow. His Egyptian mother, Hagar, stumbles away, collapsing beneath a bush. She cannot bear to watch her son die. This was not how life was supposed to be.
Have you ever felt utterly abandoned? Have you ever reached the end of your rope, unsure where to turn? Have you ever cried out, wondering if God even sees you? Hagar’s and Ishmael's story is not just theirs—it is ours. It is the story of a woman cast out, a son lost, and a God who hears and sees them in the wilderness.
The Story Unfolds: From Security to the Wilderness (Genesis 21:8-14)
Ishmael had grown into a young man, strong and full of potential. His father loved him very much. He was supposed to be the heir of Abraham's fortune and God's promise. But one day, a brother Isaac was born whom God would select to be the child of promise. Isaac means laughter, and it was Ishmael's laughter that became his undoing. Sarah saw him mocking Isaac, and resentment boiled in her heart. She remembered how Hagar had treated her with malice and disdain when she was expecting Ishmael and Sarah had no child. Now, Hagar's older son feels as though he is better than her son. What started out as Sarah's sacrificial plan to fulfill God's promise has become a major thorn in her side. She turned to Abraham with a sharp demand: "Cast out this slave woman and her son!"
Imagine the turmoil in Abraham’s heart. Ishmael was his son, his own flesh and blood. How could he send him away? But God spoke: "Do as Sarah says. I will make a nation of him too." Abraham’s heart must have ached as he handed Hagar and Ishmael a skin of water and bread, sending them into the wilderness, unsure of what lay ahead.
One day, they had a home. The next, they were alone, walking into uncertainty. Have you ever had something taken from you? Have you ever been forced into the unknown, feeling powerless?
The Breaking Point: Lost, Exhausted, Hopeless (Genesis 21:15-16)
The sun was merciless. The sand burned beneath their feet. The last drop of water was gone, long gone. The wilderness gave them nothing but silence.
Ishmael, too weak to walk, collapsed under a bush. Hagar, her strength spent, staggered away and fell to her knees. She could not watch her son die. She lifted her voice in grief: "Let me not look on the death of my child." She wept bitterly.
Earlier, she had run away from Sarah for her own pride and arrogance over her master. She was told to go back and name the child, "Ishmael" meaning, "God hears." Now, it was the fault of her son. Would God hear her cry again?
Have you ever felt helpless? Have you ever watched a loved one suffer, knowing there is nothing you can do? Have you ever reached the end of your strength, your plans shattered, your hope fading? Did you wonder where God was and if He cared?
The Divine Intervention: God Sees, God Hears, God Provides (Genesis 21:17-21)
Then, a voice. "Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is."
God hears Ishmael’s cry. Even in the wilderness, even in despair, His ears are open to the cries of the lost. Ishmael's name means "God hears," after all. Then, He calls out to Hagar: "Lift up the boy and hold him fast, for I will make him a great nation."
At that moment, her eyes are opened. She sees a well of water. It had been there all along, but she had been too blinded by sorrow to see it.
How often do we miss God’s provision because our pain blinds us? How often do we think God has forgotten us when, all along, He has placed what we need within reach?
Hagar rushes to her son, lifts his head, and gives him water. He lives. The wilderness would not be their grave. God’s promise still stands. Ishmael would become a great nation.
Could it be that even in your wilderness, God has already provided what we need—but we just haven’t seen it yet?
Lessons from the Wilderness
When we read the story of Hagar and Ishmael, we might just consider it another story in the Bible and not pay too much attention to it. But really, the renewed promise of Ishmael after being cast out couldn't be more relatable to us. After all, we are not the chosen race from a physical sense. Our access into this blessing and our relationship with God is not based upon physical relation. We have messed up and failed to live in a way that deserves God's blessing. We were strangers and exiles, dead like Ishmael. But God still hears and sees us. Let's look at three lessons we learn from this story.
God Sees You in Your Struggle
Hagar once called God El Roi—"The God Who Sees Me" (Genesis 16:13). She was not unseen. God had seen her before she even cried out. He had seen and heard Ishmael before he wept.
You and I are never unseen. No rejection, no suffering, no wilderness is beyond God’s vision. We are not so different from Hagar and Ishmael. We, too, make mistakes, take wrong turns, and find ourselves suffering the consequences of our own choices or the actions of others. We wander, sometimes feeling cast out, abandoned, and hopeless. But even in our wandering, God is not harsh toward us. He does not turn away in anger. Instead, He is willing to help us, to guide us, and to provide for us in our suffering. Like Hagar, we need only to lift our eyes and see that God’s provision has been there all along, waiting for us to trust Him.
Jesus tells us in the parable of the prodigal son that when the lost son was still a long way off, the father saw him, felt compassion, and ran to him (Luke 15:20). The father did not wait for his son to earn his way back—he ran to meet him in his brokenness.
This is the heart of our God. He does not ignore the suffering of the outcast or the failures of the wanderer. He sees us even in our lowest moments. He hears our cries, not because we are righteous, but because He is merciful. Just as Hagar was met in her despair, just as the prodigal son was embraced in his return, so too does God run to us, ready to restore, provide, and heal.
God’s Plans Are Greater Than Ours
Perhaps you have received his grace, and you need his providential care in overcoming some trial or life event. Remember that God is in control. Sarah and Hagar both forgot that God is in control and made mistakes. There were consequences for what they had done, but God was not finished with either of them.
- Ishmael still became a great nation.
- Isaac’s lineage still led to the Messiah.
- God’s promises are bigger than our failures.
We need to trust in God’s timing. Trust His plan—even when it seems slow or painful.
Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
- He is the God Who Sees. No suffering goes unnoticed. No tear falls unseen.
- He is the God Who Hears. Even in the wilderness, even in despair, He hears our cries.
- He is the God Who Provides. He makes wells in the desert. He meets us where we are. He offers living water through Christ (John 7:37-38).
When You Reach the End of Yourself, God is Just Beginning
Hagar’s story teaches us: When we are weak, He is strong. The wilderness is where God meets us, strips away our self-reliance, and reveals His provision. Paul uses this story to say that the self-righteous Jews are being cast out in Galatians 4. Only the children of promise will be included in God's kingdom. This story is an allegory, showing that everyone who trusts in themselves will be cast out.
But notice that even those who are cast out are not forgotten. The well was already there. God simply opened her eyes to it. But before that moment, it didn’t look like there was any hope. To Hagar, all seemed lost—her son was about to die, and there was nothing left for her to do but weep. She was a mother at her breaking point, completely powerless to change her circumstances.
And yet, God saw her. He saw Ishmael. He did not let them perish. God has a history of taking the poor, the outcast, and the abandoned and raising them up. He lifted Joseph from slavery to royalty, David from the fields to the throne, and even Jesus, despised and rejected, to be the Savior of the world.
God has already placed what you need within reach. Today, you have access to the most important salvation you could ever experience—but you just need to see it. It's a well that never runs dry. Perhaps your lowest point is setting us up for a high we never imagined. God likes to do that.
John 7:37-38 – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'"
Conclusion: Bring It Home
Imagine being Hagar. Alone, hopeless, watching life slip away. Now, imagine the voice of God breaking through the silence:
"I see you. I hear you. I have provided for you."
This is what He says to you today.
- If you feel cast out—He sees you.
- If you feel lost—He hears you.
- If you are wandering—He has made a well for you.
John 7:37 – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
The well is waiting. The question is—will you drink?