The powerful story of Hagar in the Bible underscores how messy and complex God’s work in history really is. As people of faith, we believe that God answers prayer and keeps his promises, but this story will shake us out of simplistic notions of God’s call, God’s promises, and God’s faithfulness. Hagar is not just a supporting character in the story of Abraham and Sarah. She is not just the mother of Ishmael. Looking at Genesis 16 and 21 through Hagar’s eyes reveals that her story is Israel’s story. And it has a lot to teach us about how God shows up in our own stories.