and he said, “She’s your handmaid. Punish her if you must.”
Sarai did so. But Hagar was rebellious and she ran away from Sarai – out
into the desert. There an angel found her and asked her what she was doing.
(Of course the angel knew.) Hagar told him her side of the story. But did the
angel agree with her? No. He said Hagar should go back to her mistress and
obey her. (That was what she should have done all along.) Hagar did so, and
her baby was born.
It is very easy for us to notice how good we are at some things, and look
down at people who are not good at the same things. But maybe if one boy is
good at soccer another boy is good at school work. It’s easy to say, “Yes, but
soccer is much more important than school work, so he’s just useless.”
I think you know that many times, in many places, people behave like
Hagar. They like to think they are better than others, and they like to laugh at
others who are not as good as they are at soccer, or schoolwork or singing or
something else. The reason is that the hells love for us to look down on other
people and make them unhappy. Hagar was making Sarai unhappy. There was
no reason why she should do so. Hagar sho uld have been happy that she was
going to have a baby, but instead she thought she would be happy making fun
of Sarai. In the end everyone was unhappy.
So the message of this story is to watch out for the temptation to look
down on other children who are not as good as you are at some things. I want
to suggest just two ways to fight this temptation. First of all, try really hard not
to say unkind things to people who are not as good as you are at something.
Second, try to remember that maybe they are good at something else, and even
tell them so. If a friend is frustrated and says, “I’m no good at soccer,” don’t just
agree with him. Instead find something that he is really good at and tell him
about it. It will make him feel better instead of worse.
Looking down on others only brings them and you unhappiness in the
long run – just as it brought unhappiness to Abram and to Sarai and to Hagar.
So notice when you want to look down on other children, and try to resist that
temptation.
Opening Prayer: Lord, you have made us, and look down on our weakness
with infinite wisdom. We thank you for the patience with which You deal with
our weaknesses, and for the mercy with which You lead us through those
weaknesses toward true strength.
Children’s Prayer: We thank you, O Lord, for the many gifts you have
given to each one of us. When we discover strengths in ourselves, when we
find that we have talents in work or sports or friendships, let us turn to You
and give You thanks. Make us strong, we pray, so that we do not look down on
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