The story of Abraham and Sarah’s slave Hagar makes us think about the namesake of God. It’s remarkable that a woman outside of God’s chosen people assigns a name to God that even today means much: “the God who sees me.” He appeared to Hagar and took up her cause; His mercy is evident.
But we’re never told in Scripture if Hagar was, in fact, a child of the Lord. What we do know is that God took care of her because she belonged to Abram’s family. It was for His namesake that He showed mercy on Hagar. He made His covenant with Abram, promising to be his God and never forsake him. Even as both Abram and Sarai distrusted God and disobeyed, He would not forsake the Egyptian slave in their family.
This is the way our covenant-keeping God works. For the sake of His good name, He upholds His promises… whether we identify more with the chosen Abraham who repeatedly steps into sin, or with the mistreated Hagar who hardly knew the Lord. Our God proclaims His name to us, and He is the One who sees and hears in our time of trouble.