Our Redeemer Is Near

Published January 5, 2026

Genesis 16-21

Monday, January 5, 2026 | Laura Hopkins

There are two themes I see within our reading in Genesis - God coming to people, and Him bringing good out of messed up situations. Those two points are stated so simply but are actually quite profound!

As Moses exclaims later in Exodus 15:11: “Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” Our all powerful, all knowing, ever present God is so holy, His presence is too much for us to even behold. He is so majestic we can’t fully comprehend Him and His glory. Even more amazing is the fact that the creator of the universe is interested in keeping His promises to Hagar, Ishmael, as well as a lasting covenant with Abram (Abraham) and his wife Sarai (Sarah).

In the midst of very messy, disobedient, and self serving moments, they were never so far gone that they would evade God's redemption.

Abram and Sarai - They are old and barren and Hagar is used to bring them a descendent. Sarai mistreats her so badly she is sent away. But, in making a covenant with Abraham, God changes their names to Abraham and Sarah. God’s covenant with Abraham is to make him into the father of a fruitful nation be blessing to all nations. Sarah will bear a child at around 90 years of age.

Hagar - God came near to her in her desperation. Mistreated, rejected, and lonely, God made a promise to her and her son the he would “greatly multiply your descendants, they would be too many to count” (Genesis 16:10).

Lot - The nephew of Abraham sought his own way. In his depravity, angels came to him to warn of the destruction that was to consume his city. By God's grace he was able to escape.

Abimelech - God protected him through a dream to not be with Sarah. Despite deception, he obeyed the fear of the Lord, and because of his obedience the wombs of his wife and maids were opened.

We may not be able to truly relate to any of these situations, but, I am sure many of us can recall a time (or times) when we messed up in a really big way. We can all reflect on times where we did our own thing, served ourselves, and dug holes too deep to get out of on our own - thinking there’s no way anything good can come from this situation.

But God!

I have seen God's redemptive purposes in my own life, and in others many times. It often doesn't make sense how God uses broken, sinful humans to fulfill God’s ultimate purposes. Only God can take a mess and make into a message for His glory and our good.

If there is one thing I am realizing more and more- His ways are not our ways; His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). We have testimony after testimony throughout the Scriptures of hope and redemption that comes from sinful people surrendering and being used faithfully by God. What an encouragement! “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).