我参加了一个作家的交流网站，大家时常在线上互相加油打气。有一次，我饱受压力、倍感焦虑，便在线上大吐苦水，其中一个朋友说：“我了解。”因着她的话，我得到了安慰与平安。她了解我的期望、恐惧、挣扎和梦想，而且她真的关心我。

When I heard my friend’s simple but powerful encouragement, I thought of Hagar, a slave in Abram’s household. After many years of Sarai and Abram still longing for an heir, Sarai followed the custom of the culture and told her husband to conceive through Hagar. But when Hagar became pregnant, she treated Sarai with contempt. When Sarai mistreated her in return, Hagar fled far away to the desert.

朋友这句简洁有力的鼓励，让我联想到亚伯兰家中的使女夏甲。那时，撒莱与亚伯兰多年期盼能有子嗣而未得。于是撒莱依循当时的文化习俗，让亚伯兰与夏甲同房。可是夏甲怀孕后就轻看撒莱，撒莱因而苦待夏甲，所以夏甲就逃到了旷野。

The Lord saw Hagar in her pain and confusion, and He blessed her with the promise that she would be the mother of many descendants. After the encounter, Hagar called the Lord “El Roi,” which means “the God who sees me” (Gen. 16:13), for she knew she wasn’t alone or abandoned.

耶和华看见夏甲的困境，了解她的痛苦与难过，就赐福给她，并应许她的后裔将极其繁多。在与耶和华相遇后，夏甲称祂为“看顾人的上帝”（创世记16章13节），因她知道自己并不孤单，也没有被抛弃。

As Hagar was seen—and loved—so are we. We might feel ignored or rejected by friends or family, yet we know that our Father sees not only the face we present to the world, but all of our secret feelings and fears. He speaks the words that bring us life.

如同夏甲一样，我们也蒙上帝的看顾与关爱。或许我们会觉得被朋友、家人忽略或拒绝，但我们知道，上帝不仅看见我们面对周遭环境时的表现，祂还了解我们内心的感受与恐惧。祂赐下的话语，带给我们生命。

Father God, just as You saw Hagar in her distress, so You see those who are hurting, fleeing oppression, and afraid. Please send them help and encouragement.

天父上帝，就像祢看顾在苦难中的夏甲，
祢也看顾那些受伤、受压迫，以及惊慌害怕的人们。
求祢帮助、鼓励他们。

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 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.9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:“You are now pregnant  and you will give birth to a son.You shall name him Ishmael,[a] for the Lord has heard of your misery.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him,and he will live in hostility toward[b] all his brothers.”13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen[c] the One who sees me.”

整理：于姊妹