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Every time I hear the Hagar Bible story I feel so sorry for her. Because Hagar is one of the best examples of a single mom Bible study if I ever saw one.
One of the most significant things about Hagar’s Bible story is that SO many people do not see the actuality of what happened to her. For this single mom Bible study do not see Hagar as some home-wrecking woman that just wanted to take Abraham from his wife. Because she did NOT want to get pregnant by Abraham, and she was ultimately abandoned by him after being forced to have his child.
This is why I see the Hagar Bible story as her being more as a victim that was involuntarily made into a single mom, made to have a child, and then abandoned by her child’s father. Ishmael’s mother is a single mother that I know for a fact so many single mothers are able to relate to.
So much so that I actually did several videos on her on my YouTube channel (click to subscribe) and used her as an example in many of my single mom Bible studies. Check out one of my videos below.
This is why for this single mom Bible study I am going to point out specific ways Hagar dealt with some of the same baby mama drama that so many single mothers deal with today.
For more reading about single mothers and the Bible, click here to read three other single mothers in the Bible you can learn from. Because each of them offers a unique perspective on single motherhood that I know each of you can relate to. For this post, I am specifically going to focus on Ishmael’s mother (Hagar).
1. Who Is Hagar In The Bible?
In The Hagar Bible Story, she was forced into a bad situation
The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going? I’m running away from my mistress Sarai, she answered. Genesis 16:7-8
The fact of the matter is that Hagar did not make a baby on her own, but yet she is seen as the one to take full responsibility for this situation that she did not even want to be a part of in the first place.
Who Is Hagar In The Bible & Can you relate to this as a single mom?
I know as a single mom, especially if you are a single mom with an uninvolved father. You know for a fact that you did not lay down and get your own self pregnant. So why is it fair for you to be the one to bear the sole responsibility of raising a child on your own with little to no help?
Who Is Hagar In The Bible ~ My advice to you
Even if your single mother situation may have been a bad situation, do not allow that situation to make you bitter. Nothing is going to change the past and nothing is going to change the fact that your child is here. All you can do is move forward, let go of what has happened, and what you cannot change. Be the best parent to your child on your own, regardless of what your child’s father is or is not doing.
Also check out out my video below on how to deal with a dead beat dad, which is another single mom Bible story video.
2. Who Is Hagar In The Bible & Her Relationship With Her Child’s Father
In The Hagar Bible Story She was Abandoned By Abraham
Early the next morning Abraham got some food and a bottle of water. The bottle was made out of animal skin. He gave the food and water to Hagar, placing them on her shoulders. Then he sent her away with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in Desert of Beersheba. Genesis 21:14
Not only was Hagar and Ishmael sent away but they were sent to the desert with a little bit of food and a bottle of water. I mean really, how they were going to survive off of that. It sounded like a death sentence to me. AND the person that sent Ishmael and his mother away was Abraham, the father of the child! How crazy is that?
Who is Hagar In The Bible & How this single mom Bible study Can you relate to this as a single mom?
Maybe you were married, maybe you were engaged, maybe you thought you and your boyfriend were going to be together forever, or maybe your child’s father dumped you like a sake of potatoes when he found out you were pregnant. You might even feel like you have just been thrown out with nothing but a few bucks and your child’s father is nowhere to be found.
Who IS Hagar In The Bible & My advice to you
As someone who gets the bare minimum of child support as in $65 a month. And that is if it is paid regularly, I can relate to this whole bottle of water and a little bit of food while in the desert situation. Like how far is $65 going to really get me when I have a child to raise, just like how far was bottled water going to get Hagar and her son. But see, this is where you learn that God will always take care of you.
When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, I cannot watch the boy die. And as she sat there, she began to sob. God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, What is the matter, Hagar?
Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation. Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt. Genesis 21: 15-21
Not only did God take care of both mother and child but he also blessed the child. It is a prime example of how God can be the father to the fatherless. But also for this single mom Bible study look at what God said “Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.”
Meaning that here Hagar was about to give up and die of dehydration when in all actuality there was a well right in front her face that she was refusing to see because she was so distraught over her situation. So no matter how bad your situation is, what we can learn from the Hagar Bible story is that God can make a way for you as a single mom even when you feel like there is no way or you want to give up. Check out my video below where I spoke about this further.
3. Who Is Hagar In The Bible And Why She Was Left Out
In This Single Mom Bible Study, Hagar Felt Left Out
When she (meaning Hagar) knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Genesis 16:4
One of the shocking things about Hagar and why this is such an interesting single mom Bible study is because when Hagar became pregnant she began to hate Sarah. This could be for a number of reasons. Perhaps because Sarah was the reason that she was pregnant OR perhaps she was upset that here she was being the other woman while Abraham and Sarah pranced around all married and happy. While she was just left behind feeling unloved.
Who is Hagar In The Bible & Can you relate to this as a single mom?
How many of you are single moms get all bent up and out of shape when your child’s father moves on with another woman (see my blog here)? Here you are being the best mother you can be and taking care of your child. And there your child’s father is roaming free with this other woman acting like he has no care and/or responsibility in the world.
Maybe he is trying to make his new girlfriend into your child’s stepmom after knowing her for like a week or something crazy. Here he is going out and dating any and everyone while you are stuck trying to do right by your child with no social life. As a result, like Hagar, you start to despise him and her.
Who Is Hagar In The Bible & My advice to you
Do not despise anyone. What is for you is for you, and if he is not for you then let him have her. I recommend you read my blog on how to get over your child’s father, because there may be some unresolved feelings you have for him.
For myself, I completely do not care what my son’s father does and who he does it with. That is the point you need to get with your own situation. Do not get jealous over what they have because God can bring you a relationship that is equally amazing. But you have to stop feeling some type of way about their relationship in order for that to happen.
And I am not immune, I have been through many struggles as a single mom all on my own while his father does nothing. But what I told myself, just like this single mom Bible study of Hagar; was that I would go and make me and my son into a great nation. And not sit and worry about what he is and is not doing and with who. Watch my video below on my single mom level up story.
4. Who Is Hagar In The Bible ~ Ishmael’s Mother was thrown away for a new family
We all know that Isaac was the child that God promised Abraham and Sarah. But what we also know is that Hagar was forced to sleep with Abraham, have his child, and was sent away into the desert. All this happened because Sarah now had her child with Abraham and Hagar and Ishmael were no use to her anymore.
The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac. Genesis 21: 8-10
Who Is Hagar In The Bible ~ Can you relate to this as a single mom?
Let me tell you a story. My son’s father literally told me that he would not love my son as much as he loved his other son AND the woman that he had that child with literally cursed my child in front of him all while he did nothing.
Therefore, I KNOW how it can feel with your child’s father when he has now started over with a new family. And now he may want nothing to do with your child, maybe even be less involved with your child, or the new woman in his life may want him to get rid of you so she can have a family with him.
Who Is Hagar In The Bible ~ My advice to you
Since I was in this situation personally I believe that you should let go and let God. You cannot make anyone do and/or be someone that they are not willing to do or be. If your child’s father and the new woman in his life are trying to get rid of you then good riddance. If he was a real man then he would put her in check and he would continue to see his child. If he is not willing to do that, then just let it go.
As a single mother, there is always a special place in my heart for Ishmael’s mother, I know that people typically take Sarah’s side but really she was not the victim. Hagar was, she was forcibly made into a single mother, by no real choice of her own and as a result, she went through so many things that us single moms go through today. Being a single mom is not new, you just need to learn to handle your situation for the betterment of you and your child.
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Did you know that I have a book specifically for single moms To know more about my No Nonsense Single Mom’s Devotional then click here. Also, click here or the picture below, and I will give you the first few chapters for free if you are not sure.
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