I went out in the back yard and got dive bombed by a mocking bird daddy. He left his perch on the neighbor’s fence and began screeching and flying at me from all directions to get me to back off. The mother bird was catching grasshoppers and risking the flight down to the ground to feed her baby, who couldn’t fly yet. That mother bird was doing what her instincts told her was necessary to take care of that baby. But it takes a lot more than instincts to be a great human mother.
It takes a relationship with God. Let’s look at some of the dilemmas and answers to Hagar from the Old Testament. She was the handmaid to Sarai, Abram’s wife. When Sarai could not get pregnant, she gave Hagar to Abram. After Hagar got pregnant, Sarai was angry and jealous and banished her. But God had other plans. He sent an angel to deliver a hard message to Hagar. God wanted her to go back into the house of Abram and Sarai. It must have seemed so difficult to go back where she was hated. But for the sake of the upbringing of her son, she obeyed God. Here’s the story:
And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. (Gen 16:7-11)
The word “heard” in verse 11 is shama, which means to listen attentively, carefully, with regard and understanding. The word “affliction” means misery and depression. The angel was telling her that God understood her misery and depression. He cared about her and was listening to her anguish and in spite of what it seemed, she could trust that He still had a good plan for them.
Mothers need to know that they can take their deepest concerns to God and that He will instruct them and they can trust Him. God knows what’s in the future, so obedience must even override instinct at times.
After this encounter with an angel of God, Hagar realized how much God cared about her and her child. She could go back into Sarai and Abram’s home with new courage and a new awareness of how important she was to God no matter how Sarai felt about her. There were important lessons to learn and it was in Abram’s home that she and her son would learn them.
In the wilderness Hagar had poured out her heart to God, but she didn’t stop there. She learned how to listen to Him. She risked her own feelings of human rejection and obeyed when it wasn’t easy. God blessed her because of it and made her son the father of a whole nation.
As for me, I can go out in my yard now without being dive bombed. The baby mocking bird can fly now and maybe next year it’ll teach its own to fly here too.
Love, Carolyn
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