Friday, September 20, 2019

About the Book

Book: Hagar

Author: Shadia Hrichi

Genre: Religion / Bible Study

Release Date: October 10, 2017

You are ”The God Who Sees Me.”

Discover a close relationship with God–no matter the pain or suffering in your life. Witness the depths of God’s compassion through the eyes of Hagar, a runaway slave who meets the living God in a desert of despair, where she gives Him the name El Roi, ”The God Who Sees Me.”

Through this seven week study, you will find that when you surrender your life into God’s hands, your trials and triumphs serve a magnificent purpose: to draw you into the arms of the faithful God Who Sees Me.

”Deep and packed with surprising insights!” Francine Rivers

Click here to grab your copy.

Click here to download a free sample, explore Shadia’s video teaching sessions, or sign up for the online Bible study.

About the Author

SHADIA HRICHI is a passionate Bible teacher, author, and speaker who has a heart for seeing lives transformed by the power of God’s Word. She has received a master’s in biblical and theological studies from Western Seminary as well as master’s in criminal justice from the State University of New York. Shadia is the author of several Bible studies, including HAGAR,Worthy of Love, and her latest study, LEGION, comes out in October. Shadia is often invited to speak at churches, conferences, and other events. Her insightful, witty, yet vulnerable teaching style reveals a compassion for the hurting, love for Jesus, and uncompromising commitment to the truth of God’s Word. Visit shadiahrichi.com

More from Shadia

Am I known? Am I loved? Am I home?

Every human heart is searching for the answers to these questions. Yet when pain and heartache enter our lives, we feel betrayed and cry out one question: God, do You see me?

The answer is yes. He is Behind the Seen.

Because we live in a fallen world, each of us will inevitably face hard times, even painful ones. Who among us has never seen or felt the fallout of broken homes, broken lives, or broken dreams? Hagar is a great example of someone who discovered God during a difficult time.

Maybe you have never heard of her. Or perhaps you came across her name in a study of the book of Genesis. But how much do you really know about this young slave girl? We often relegate her to the backstage as a minor character in God’s redemptive story. But was she?

As I explored Hagar’s story for another book I wanted to write, God continually amazed me as we journeyed together from the affluence of Egypt, into a life of slavery, to a desert of despair. It seemed the more I studied her life, the more I discovered about God. What began as a chapter evolved into a study all its own.

Two years and several thousand hours of study and prayer later, HAGAR: Rediscovering the God Who Sees Me came to be. Consider this book as your backstage pass to the life of Hagar.

I have never actually gone backstage during a live event, but I know that much more goes on behind the scenes than meets the eye. I invite you to come backstage with me and explore how God was involved in every detail of Hagar’s life. Her story has all the ingredients of a Hollywood tragedy: betrayal, loss, abuse, crisis pregnancy, abandonment . . . any of that sound painfully familiar?

Thankfully, Hagar’s story does not end in despair. God was working Behind the Seen—just as He has in your life and mine—all along. As a matter of fact, Hagar emerges victorious!

Hagar: an unsung hero if there ever was one.

Beloved, is the enemy using anything in your past to try to derail you from God’s plan, or hold you back from experiencing God’s joy to the fullest? Be assured, that is not how your story will end. Just as God did for Hagar, when He enters your story, victory is already assured.

So strap on your sandals and a grab a bottle of water. We’re heading into the desert. A place where we will rediscover the God Who Sees Me.

“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.”
—Isaiah 9:2

I love doing Bible Studies and was very excited to receive this one to do. When I do a Bible Study I take it seriously and want to get as much as I can from it. In order to achieve this I wanted to take my time and go through each chapter and do the homework involved in it. I hate to admit it but I knew very little about Hagar before starting this workbook. The name is vaguely familiar so I was ready to learn what I could in this in-depth study.

It was a nice journey to start with Abraham and Sarah where we discover that Hagar was an Egyptian slave belonging to Sarah. I remember how much Sarah desired a child but became too impatient to wait on God. What she does questions her faith in God. She gives Hagar to her husband in order to produce a child. I wonder how Hagar felt as she realized she was being manipulated into something she had no say over? How many times have we felt trapped in our lives? Just like Hagar does, do we run away when we can't control our situation?

The study is very well written and uses insightful scriptures to tell the story through God's Word. It is divided into different sections which takes us through trials, emotions and God's unfailing love. What an encounter Hagar experienced with God. She never thought she was important, but God shows her that she was called to give birth to Abraham's child. She was important and allowed God to heal her thoughts of not belonging anywhere. How many times have you felt unimportant? I know I have all my life. I allowed the enemy to steal my innocence as a child and allowed me to feel unworthy and unloved.

I have enjoyed this study very much and appreciate the author's details of a woman who at one time felt worthless and allowed God to show her that her worth is valuable in His eyes. As women we all have faced a time when we felt unattractive, useless or lonely. Through this study God shows us by scripture that we are His treasure. We don't need to feel ashamed of our past anymore. With a loving God to guide us we can be set free from the bondage of self doubt and guilt and begin to walk with our head held high.

I appreciate how this study has helped me understand my worth and see clearer the plan that God has for my life. Hagar is a wonderful story and the author does an amazing job of writing the Bible Study with clarity and compassion. I highly recommend this book to those who want a deeper understanding of His Word and promises for our lives.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.