Beer Lahai Roi, an unusual sounding name for a well, is a well mentioned in Genesis 16, the story of Hagar and Ishmael. It’s the first well mentioned in the Bible, and as with many cases reminds us of the desperate need for water, but also shows us that God-encounters can take place in the most unexpected of places.
Hagar was Sarai’s slave and her involvement in the story of the people of God is a salutary warning that it’s always dangerous to take the pragmatic, practical route when it comes to God’s promises. God had promised Abram and Sarai a son, a son who would be Abram’s heir and through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. (Gen 12:1-3, Gen 15:3-5) However, God was taking a long time to fulfil this promise and so Sarai’s plan was to have a surrogate family through Hagar (Gen 16:2), only to then discover that this plan was not without consequences or problems. She and Abram effectively made Hagar’s life so difficult that Hagar fled.
Life is not always easy. Sometimes we make it more complicated than it need be by our own actions; sometimes, other people’s actions make life difficult for us. Joseph is perhaps the best example we have in the Old Testament of someone who in many senses of the word could be considered a victim of circumstances: beaten up and sold into slavery by his own brothers, thrown into prison because of a scheming, rejected woman and left to languish there because of the forgetfulness of a fellow inmate he had helped. So often, we may find ourselves in circumstances that leave a lot to be desired: we feel like Hagar, alone in a desert, destined to die.
However alone, abandoned and forsaken we may feel, however, we are never beyond the reach of God. The Bible tells us, ‘The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert.’ (Gen 16:7) The words spoken to her by God reassured, comforted and challenged her, but she was never the same again.She realised that God cared about her, not just about Abram and Sarai. She realised that God saw her: ‘You are the God who sees me’, she said. (Gen 16:13) In effect, the desert place became a holy place, and the spring of water there received a new name. She called the well Beer Lahai Roi, which means ‘well of the Living One who sees me.’ (Gen 16:14)
God sees us, knows us, loves us and provides for us. There, in the desert, she found water and also found a God who knew her intimately and cared about her. When we encounter God, we too are changed.