He gives me value
Hagar was a slave. Her life was lived at the dictates of her owner. She had zero control over her days, could not make her own decisions, and her survival was totally contingent on how well she pleased her owner.
When she was commanded to sleep with her owner’s husband and become a surrogate mother, she complied. She got pregnant, then things began to change.
The realization that she now had something that her barren owner could not have, namely, a baby in her womb, whose father was none other than the Patriarch himself, stirred up something in Hagar.
In her own eyes, Hagar’s stock value had increased substantially, and she began ‘looking down’ on the woman who owned her… a sort of ‘I’m better than you’ kind of looking down.
It was not a good move. Her owner got totally aggravated and began to mistreat her. Hagar ran away into the desert… supposedly, to die. Her stock value came crashing down
That’s when God directly intervened. He spoke to Hagar, assured her that He was aware of her… assured her that she had value in His sight. He promised her a future, and sent her back to her owner.
That experience, having Almighty God take time to attend her at that time of serious distress, changed Hagar. God had given her value, and no slave master could ever take that away.
He was the God who saw her… the God who gave her value.
(Genesis 16)
Hagar was not a one of a kind. We are all slaves to one thing or another. Paul explains that we were all slaves to sin, but some have recognized the God who sees them and are now slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:15-18)