The Destruction of Jerusalem

Have you ever felt like a nobody? Someone to be used by others? Someone whose deep pain doesn’t matter to anyone?

One of my favorite people in the Bible is a young Egyptian slave girl. Her name was Hagar. She lived with the Israelites and was forced to bear Abraham’s son in Sarah’s place. A nobody, someone to be used.

Not to God. Hagar is one of the few people in the Bible that God appeared to, and He appeared to her twice! He heard her desperate cries and answered.

The first time was when Hagar was pregnant. Sarah had been cruel to her, causing Hagar to run into the desert. God appeared and told her to return to Sarah. He also told Hagar she would have a son, saying, “You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress†(Genesis 16:11).

God was not done intervening in Hagar’s life, however. After Abraham and Sarah’s son, Isaac, was born, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away.

This time Hagar was in a wilderness. She ran out of water and placed Ishmael under a bush. Walking several feet away, she sat down, saying she didn’t want to watch him die. God listened again. This time to Ishmael’s cries. He spoke to Hagar and provided a well and a way for Hagar to raise Ishmael by herself. God never considered Hagar or anyone else to be a nobody.

Jesus continued this ministry to the nobodies of this world during His time on earth. He drove demons out of a naked man who lived among the tombs (Luke 8:26-39). And He introduced Himself as the Messiah to a despised Samaritan woman with an immoral past (John 4:5-29).

These are only two examples of how Jesus reached out with love and compassion during His earthly ministry. How He never failed to listen for cries of distress. And how He listens for them today. • Kathy Irey

• In Christ, we can cry out to God about anything (1 Peter 5:7). Jesus—who is fully human and fully God— sees us and knows personally the hurts and struggles we face in this broken world (Hebrews 4:14-16). He is with us no matter what we face (Matthew 28:20). How can these promises comfort you during tough times?

For the Lord has heard your cry of distress. Genesis 16:11b (NLT)

Read Verses:

Matthew 24:1-2, 35