God Sees You: Hagar's Story for Mother's Day

May 10, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The God Who Sees in Wilderness

Hagar fled into the desert, pregnant and alone. Dust coated her feet as she stumbled toward Egypt. The angel of the Lord found her at a spring—not by accident, but by divine pursuit. He called her by name, asked her questions, and promised multiplication for her son. Her response? “You are the God who sees.” [49:17]

This encounter reveals God’s intimate knowledge of the unseen struggler. He didn’t wait for Hagar to “get it right” or clean up her mess. He met her mid-flight, affirming her value and her child’s purpose.

When have you felt invisible in your pain—unnoticed by others, maybe even forgotten by God? Hear Him whisper your name today. Where is your desert, and what would it mean for you to let El Roi meet you there?

“Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God who sees’”
(Genesis 16:13, NASB)

Prayer: Ask God to open your eyes to His presence in your current wilderness.
Challenge: Write down one hidden struggle you’ve kept silent. Pray over it for 5 minutes.

Day 2: Tears at the Well’s Edge

Fourteen years later, Hagar sat in another desert. The water skin lay empty. Ishmael’s cries echoed as she placed him under a bush, whispering, “I can’t watch him die.” Her tears mingled with dust. Then God heard—not just her prayers, but the boy’s whimpers. An angel declared, “Arise! Hold his hand.” Water gushed where none had been seen. [01:05:48]

God responds to raw, desperate prayers. He hears the unspoken ache in a mother’s heart and the wordless groans of a child. His provision often comes at the brink of despair.

What parched place in your life feels beyond rescue? Where have you stopped praying because answers seem impossible? How might God be asking you to “hold their hand” while He works?

“God heard the boy crying…Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.”
(Genesis 21:17, 19, NASB)

Prayer: Cry out to God about a situation where hope feels drained.
Challenge: Text one person facing a “desert” to say, “God hears you. I’m praying.”

Day 3: Naming the God Who Hears

Hagar didn’t just survive her trials—she named them. At the first spring, she called God El Roi (“The One Who Sees”). Years later, she memorialized His rescue at Beer Lahai Roi (“Well of the Living One Who Sees Me”). These names became altars, testifying to God’s faithfulness in her Egyptian displacement and Abraham’s rejection. [54:54]

Our labels for God shape how we endure suffering. Hagar’s names for Him anchored her identity: she was seen, known, and never abandoned—even when people failed her.

What name for God resonates with your current season? Is it “Healer,” “Provider,” or “Nearness in Grief”? What trial needs renaming as a testimony?

“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me.’”
(Genesis 16:13, NASB)

Prayer: Thank God for a specific way He’s shown Himself faithful to you.
Challenge: Write “El Roi” on a sticky note. Place it where you’ll see it hourly.

Day 4: Provision in the Desert’s Grasp

Hagar’s well didn’t appear until she surrendered control. Exhausted from trying to fix her crisis, she finally wept—and God opened her eyes. The miracle wasn’t creating water but revealing what He’d already provided. The desert still burned, but now she saw sustenance within reach. [01:08:51]

God often places provision in plain sight, obscured by our panic. Like Hagar, we miss solutions because we’re fixated on the problem. His command to “arise” requires trusting His vision over our limited perspective.

What resource, relationship, or Scripture have you overlooked in your current struggle? What step of obedience—like returning to a difficult situation—might unlock His provision?

“Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand.”
(Genesis 21:18, NASB)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal His hidden provision in an area of need.
Challenge: List three blessings you’ve taken for granted. Thank God for each aloud.

Day 5: Remembering Beer Lahai Roi

Hagar’s story bookends with named places: the wilderness spring and the well. These locations marked her pain but also God’s intervention. Beer Lahai Roi became a landmark—not just for water, but for remembering. Every sip reminded her: “The Living One sees me.” [01:13:20]

Memorials matter. They combat our forgetfulness when new trials arise. Like Hagar, we need tangible reminders of God’s past faithfulness to fuel present trust.

What “wells” has God given you in past deserts? How can you revisit those memories when doubt whispers, “Has He forgotten me?”

“The well was called Beer Lahai Roi…It is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.”
(Genesis 16:14, NASB)

Prayer: Confess one area where you’ve doubted God’s ongoing care.
Challenge: Create a memorial (photo, stone, journal entry) for a past answered prayer.

Sermon Summary

We greet the mixed emotions of Mother’s Day with care and honesty. We acknowledge joy for mothers who have loved and supported, sorrow for those who grieve, and longing for those still waiting. We celebrate spiritual mothers who disciple, pray, and shepherd younger believers, and we remind ourselves that God’s providence shapes even when human plans falter. We turn to the story of Hagar to see how God meets a mother in shame, exile, and desperation.

We read Genesis 16 and 21 and follow Hagar from obedience to the household through rejection, flight, and unexpected encounter. We watch the angel of the Lord find Hagar in the wilderness, speak a sharp command paired with a promise, and pronounce a future for her son Ishmael. We note that divine presence appears amid human failure, and God calls Hagar to return with the assurance of multiplication for her offspring. We then trace the later scene where Ishmael becomes a source of family tension, and Sarah insists on expulsion.

We observe Hagar again in barrenness of provision, sitting apart while her son struggles, and lifting a desperate cry. We see God hear that cry, call to her, open her eyes to a well, and confirm a flourishing future for Ishmael. We recognize the theological weight of the encounter: God sees individuals in the margins, answers raw prayer, sustains the vulnerable, and preserves his promises even through human sin. We also see Hagar naming God El Roi, the God who sees, and instituting a memorial well to remember divine provision.

We apply the account to mothers and to all who bear burdens: persistent prayer matters, God’s sight and hearing reach into wilderness seasons, and remembrance anchors faith. We refuse easy sentimentalism and confront the reality that God works sovereignly despite our sinful detours. We leave resolved to cry out in honest need, to trust God’s ongoing presence, and to recall his past mercies so we do not lose heart.

Key Takeaways

1. God sees the overlooked and hurting We must not treat visibility as the measure of value. God notices the nameless, the marginalized, and the mother whom culture discards, and that noticing carries intention and action. When human systems fail to safeguard, divine sight initiates care and guidance that reshapes futures. [49:17]
2. God answers desperate, specific prayers Prayer that rises from raw fear and grief does not get lost in heaven’s bureaucracy; God hears the concrete cries of children and parents. Response may surprise by opening eyes to provision rather than removing the trial immediately. That response reorients hope toward God’s faithfulness, not merely our relief tactics. [66:28]
3. Trust God despite our schemes Human attempts to force God’s promises reveal faith’s immaturity, yet God remains sovereign and redemptive within the mess. Divine purposes advance even when we act prematurely and sinfully. Trust requires repentance, patience, and confidence that God will fulfill promises his way and in his time. [44:37]
4. Remember and retell divine provision Naming and memorializing God’s mercy cultivates resilience for future wildernesses. Memory converts isolated rescue into a covenant testimony that sustains communities and strengthens prayer under pressure. We plant those remembrances so doubt cannot erase God’s past faithfulness. [73:05]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[30:13] - Mother's Day realities
[32:47] - Providence amid plans
[34:34] - Turning to Hagar's story
[41:12] - Introducing Hagar in Genesis
[49:17] - God appears to Hagar
[52:29] - Command and promise given
[56:53] - Birth of Ishmael
[60:55] - Family conflict and exile
[66:28] - God hears and provides
[73:05] - Beer Lehi Roy remembered

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Genesis 16:7-14 (NASB)
7 Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” 9 Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” 11 The angel of the Lord said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction. 12 But he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live in defiance of all his brothers.” 13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

Genesis 21:14-19 (NASB)
14 So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see the boy die.” And she sat opposite him, and raised her voice and wept. 17 God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

Observation Questions

In Genesis 16:7-14, where did the angel of the Lord find Hagar, and what specific command and promise did he give her?
What name did Hagar give to God in Genesis 16:13, and what does it mean?
In Genesis 21:17-19, how did God respond to Hagar’s desperate cry, and what physical provision did He reveal to her?

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think God instructed Hagar to return to Sarai despite the harsh treatment she faced (Genesis 16:9)? How does this reveal God’s sovereignty over human failure?
Hagar named God El Roi (“the God who sees”) after her encounter. What does this name teach us about God’s character toward those who feel overlooked or marginalized?
In Genesis 21:19, God “opened her eyes” to see the well. How might this moment symbolize the relationship between human desperation and divine intervention?

Application Questions

When have you felt unseen or overlooked in a difficult season? How does Hagar’s story encourage you to trust God’s awareness of your situation? [49:17]
Desperate prayers often feel raw and unfiltered. What specific burden or fear do you need to bring to God with that kind of honesty today? [01:06:28]
Hagar memorialized God’s provision by naming the well Beer-lahai-roi (“well of the Living One who sees me”). What tangible practice could you start to remember God’s faithfulness in past trials?
Are there areas where you’ve tried to “force” God’s promises through your own plans, like Sarai and Abram did? How can you surrender control and trust His timing? [44:37]
How can you intentionally support someone in your life who feels marginalized or forgotten, reflecting God’s heart to “see” them?

Sermon Clips

44s

#GodIsSovereign

“``The fleshly plans of Sarai and Abram could not frustrate the plans of God. God is completely sovereign in this situation even when it seems confusing for us of what's actually taking place. It doesn't mean that God is pleased with the sinful choices that this couple took and getting ahead of him to of his declared will in ways to bless and to multiply, but that God is sovereignly working all things for his glory in the midst of this. And so chapter 16 closes with Hagar returning home and giving birth to her son.”

55s

#MomsKeepPraying

“``Like, there's not enough buckets on deck to get rid of the water. I get it. Because I was there as a sinful little guy. And if my mom was here, she'd be like, yeah. Raising him? Not a piece of cake. I understand it. Moms, keep praying. The Lord sees you and hears you. God showed grace and mercy to her. She wept. She worried. She prayed in desperation. And through it all, the Lord showed up. If he saw Hagar, how much more will he see you as a woman of faith in Jesus Christ? A woman who is a child of God.”

43s

#GodProvides

“``She has no idea where they're headed. She has no idea of the future that is in store, but God does. And he reiterates the promise made to make a great nation through him. It's at this point the Lord provided for her needs. Her eyes were opened to see a well of water. And it you know, just like I I read this text, and I I see where they are in the description of it. You know, they're out of water. Sun is laying under a bush trying to just hang on. She's weeping and and praying and crying out, and and and the Lord intervenes and shows up, and her eyes are open to a well. It's like it's right there.”

49s

#PromiseForIshmael

“``But I also want you to hear this because if you're at least at this point in the text following along with me, see, you might be thinking, well, that seems harsh that God would say such a thing because there's Hagar and there's Ishmael. But he tells Abraham, listen to your wife. Move her along. Move Hagar and her son along. And then we read verse 13. And of the son of the maid, this is God speaking, and of the son of the maid, I will make a nation also because he is your descendant. So God still makes a promise. He says, Abraham, you need to do what you need to do. I will do what I need to do. I will take care of him.”

43s

#GodSeesMoms

“``And there's a general principle there that for all of us, God sees us, but very specifically for our moms, God sees you. He sees all the moments. He sees all the thoughts. He sees everything that is in front of you. He sees the challenges that you are facing. He sees the worry that you carry. He sees the questions that you have about the present and the future. He sees all of it. But most importantly, not only does he see the moments, he sees you.”

47s

#AngelFoundHagar

“``So Hagar fled while pregnant and left her presence. And here's a woman who's pregnant, not welcome at home anymore, at least her home, what she knew was home. Things are so tough and difficult, she leaves. And it's in this moment that the Lord saw Hagar and came to her and ministered to her. Look at verse seven. Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. The angel of the Lord found her.”

42s

#DontLoseHeartMoms

“``So here is a picture of a mother who faced overwhelming odds, and the Lord continued to show grace and mercy to her. She wept. She worried. She prayed in desperation. And through it all, the Lord saw her and heard her. Moms, don't lose heart. Don't give up crying out to God. When you are tempted to think that the ship is sinking, and I'm only I'm only speaking of our experience. I I don't know everyone's experience. I know this. There are times you feel like you're taking on more water than you can handle.”

58s

#PreIncarnateChrist

“``But overwhelmingly, and the context will always indicate how it's being used, And there's evidence here in Genesis 16 that this angel of the Lord title is a reference to what theologians call a theophany. It is an appearance of God in flesh. And theologically, if you start putting that together, we know God the father, God is spirit, and we worship him in spirit and truth as John four twenty four says. So if God is appearing in flesh, who else did that? Well, Jesus. This is a pre incarnate coming of Jesus to visit the earth. God himself sees Hagar.”

26s

“So here is a picture of a mother who faced overwhelming odds, and the Lord continued to show grace and mercy to her. She wept. She worried. She prayed in desperation. And through it all, the Lord saw her and heard her. Moms, don't lose heart. Don't give up crying out to God.”

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God Sees You: Hagar's Story for Mother's Day

Devotional

Day 1: The God Who Sees in Wilderness

Day 2: Tears at the Well’s Edge

Day 3: Naming the God Who Hears

Day 4: Provision in the Desert’s Grasp

Day 5: Remembering Beer Lahai Roi

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

God Sees You: Hagar's Story for Mother's Day

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