Tattle Telling

Then she called the name of the Lord

who spoke to her,

“You are a God who sees.”

Genesis 16:13

When we read Genesis 16 we see that Hagar, now pregnant with Abram’s child, appears to have decided that she no longer has to take orders from Sarai. Sarai goes to Abram and blames him for the actions of Hagar. I can see Abram throwing his hands up in the air and telling Sarai to do whatever she feels she needs to do.

Sarai attempts to discipline Hagar, and Hagar rebels from Sarai’s authority and flees from Sarai’s presence. Hagar ends up by a spring in the wilderness, and then the angel of the Lord appears to her.

I love how God approaches her. He addresses her as “Hagar, Sarai’s maid,” (Genesis 16:8) reminding her that she was under the authority of Sarai.

Then He asks, “Where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Genesis 16:8).

God knew where she had come from and where she was going, but He gave her the opportunity to talk to Him about it. God is the one who opened the door of communication. This has been His way from the beginning. In the garden, it was God who came to Adam and Eve and initiated the reconciliation.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” We go to see psychiatrists and counselors because we need someone to tell our hurts, to share our disappoints, someone to listen as we pour out our heart. Let us not forget that God is our “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6).

I went through a Beth Moore study, A Heart Like His (a wonderful study, by the way), and she spoke of us being able to go to God to “tell on” others. Do you remember when you were a child and you felt you had been treated unfairly by a sibling, a cousin, a friend? Where did you go, and what did you do? You most likely did as I did and went and found your momma and daddy and “told on” somebody.

It is okay for us to tattle to God. He doesn’t mind. As you can see with His approach to Hagar, He welcomes it; He seeks it. We come to Him like children. Yet after the telling, we, like mature adults, are to obey our Father.

Sometimes we realize we had a huge part in the situation, and we have to do our part to make it right, just as Hagar did. Hagar answered the angel of the Lord, and then he told her to go back and submit to Sarai’s authority. He then gave her prophecy concerning the child in her womb.

Hagar also introduces us to another name for our Creator, El Roi, which means God sees. Our God is a God who sees all. We cannot run from Him. We cannot hide. We can, however, trust that He sees all. He sees when we have been treated unjustly. He sees when we treat others unjust. He sees when we have been disobedient, and He sees when we have been hurt; nothing is hidden from His eyes.

Oh Father,

Even if no one else sees, You see. You see when we have been hurt or wronged. Nothing happens on the earth that Your eyes do not behold. How comforting that is to me! My God, I love You, and I am so thankful for Your omnipresence in my life. You are always with me.

You also know when I have overreacted and when I must apologize. Your Holy Spirit moves within me and leads me where I need to go and instructs me in what I need to do. You give me the strength to be strong, and you give me the strength to be humble.

Help me, Father, to be a woman of high esteem and integrity, a woman who does right even though no one sees, and a woman who is quick to right her wrongs.

My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,

Amen.