Trauma Blinded – Episode 2

Last week was part one of our Trauma Bonded series. We covered Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and Ishmael. I went into detail about Ishmael his trauma bond and what it shows us about our walk with Christ. 

This week I want to follow up with the topic Trauma Blinded. So let’s dive deeper into one of the side effects of trauma as it relates to the Bible story we covered in the last post. We’re hopping back into Genesis 21. Remember Hagar was the servant selected by Abraham’s wife Sarah to bare him a child. Sarah didn’t wait for God to bring forth his promise of a child with her husband Abraham. So at the compulsion of Sarah, Hagar became pregnant and gave birth to Abraham’s first son Ishmael.

Because Ishmael was immature he began to look down on his half-brother Isaac and as a result, Sarah told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael out into the desert. They had no shelter and ran out of water, they were close to death, and the desert is an unforgiving place. Imagine becoming so angry at a child that you pushed to create that you send them to a place that wasn’t safe solely because they were acting like a child.

Sarah had some nerve!

In the desert, there is no life, there is no civilization, you’re left alone to fend for yourself so whatever you work for is what you get, EXCEPT when God remembers you. We see an example of this when Israel was in the desert, God fed his people, made sure their clothes never wore out and God guided and supplied for them. 

God will make a way where there is no way, the bible says that in every temptation, there is a way out. Hagar was tempted to give up! Hagar went through the trauma of being a slave to a couple that used her. Ishmael was the catalyst for their suffering but adversely the same people who used Hagar to get what they wanted were the same people who rejected her and her. They were all wrong but Hagar was truly the victim in all of this!

Hagar served her purpose and as soon as Sarah’s son Isaac was born, Sarah decided that enough was enough and demanded Abraham discard Hagar and Ishmael into the desert. Imagine the trauma that Hagar suffered, imagine being a favored servant one day and being pushed out into a dry lifeless desert the next! Imagine going from having everything you need to have absolutely nothing literally overnight.

Hagar was at the end of her rope, she was blinded by her trauma, she didn’t have a plan she ran out of supplies she lost hope. Her eyes filled with tears as she cried out to God to save them but in Genesis 21:17 the bible says

“God heard the boy”

Genesis 21:17

So was it that God couldn’t be bothered to hear Hagar’s cries? No, absolutely not. God hears all, God is concerned with all and God isn’t a man with limited capabilities. One thing I know about God is that he keeps his word. He had a covenant with Abraham so when Abraham’s son was in danger God didn’t have a choice but to move because he promised he would. God always keeps his word. He didn’t have to answer Hagar because he knew she was the one he would use to facilitate God keeping his word. This is exactly why God released his angel to comfort Hagar. Remember, before Hagar acted, the bible says God heard Ishmael’s cry so let’s look at how God decided to keep his word. Let’s go to Genesis 21:19 the bible says

“Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink.”

Genesis 21:19

Hagar was blinded by trauma. Hagar and her son were rejected, evicted, used, and thrown away. Have you ever cried from a pain so deep that you couldn’t see through the tears? I know I have! That’s what Hagar was facing. But the Bible says God stepped in. Remember, “God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water.”

From what I read in the bible, Hagar was never blind, but she was so torn up over what she was experiencing that God had to step in comfort her, and open her eyes. Now I dont know if you read something different, but from my standpoint, God didn’t do a physical miracle like restoring the sight of the blind or making a special well appear. The Bible says God opened Hagar’s eyes. He helped her see what was already in front of her!

Now, how do we know it was most likely a pre-existing well and not a miracle well? Because God is intentional and impeccable with his word, the land they were in was called Beersheba, meaning “well of seven” or the “well of the sevenfold oath”, this name is a reference to a later covenant that Abraham made with someone else (Abimelech). I do however find it interesting that Abraham owned one of the two larger wells in the area because it was his land, and to this day there are 5 more long-standing smaller wells in that area for a total of 7 wells. Side note according to Armstrong.org the Philistines would later fill these wells with dirt and Isaac Abraham’s son would work to open them again. The land of Beersheba the “well of seven” is known to have more than one well. I truly believe that God opened Hagar’s eyes to see what was already in front of her!

Have you ever been in a deserted place and felt like you wouldn’t make it? Have you ever been alone pushed out by everyone you loved, stripped of everything you knew, and felt like your time was almost up? Because that’s what Hagar was going through, she felt alone, but she wasn’t forgotten! She felt like all of her resources were exhausted, but she was tied to a promise!

Even in her trauma, God found a way to see her and to care for her because he is a God who keeps his word!

We dont need miracles all the time, if we do that’s a problem! Sometimes we just need Jesus to open our eyes to what he has set before us! So we can see what we already have access to. What’s before you in your deserted place, that you’re overlooking? What answer have you been waiting for that Jesus already provided? What has Jesus set before you that you’re too traumatized to see? How is pain causing you to miss the promise?

Because the last time I checked, there was a well in your deserted place and Jesus said I am living water. Jesus is the one who goes before us in our pain, He’s the one who said if you drink from me you will never thirst. Jesus is the one who puts the answer before you and says… reach out! Jesus is the one who heals the pain of your trauma so you can finally see again. Jesus is the answer, but at some point,  you gotta cry out to him, you gotta let him open your eyes, and you have to run to the well! Jesus is the only one who if you allow him to, will make water flow through your deserted places and change your desert land to a promise fulfilled. Jesus is the answer! So if you want to survive the desert, let Jesus open your eyes so you can get to living water! 

He is a promise keeper!