Genesis 21

Ishmael was sent into the desert with his mother. They ran out of water. Hagar put the boy under a bush because she couldn’t watch him die. She sat down at a distance and wept.

And God heard the boy crying.

Not the plan that led to his birth. Not the decisions of the adults who created his situation. God heard the boy.

That’s the second time God showed up for Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness. The first time, Hagar was pregnant and running. This time, they were both dying. And both times, God came to the one who had the least power and the fewest options.

I keep noticing that in the Genesis narrative, God seems especially attentive to the people who got caught in the crossfire of other people’s decisions. Hagar. Ishmael. The ones who didn’t get to choose. God isn’t only the God of the main story. He’s present in the margins.