Daily Practice April 13, 2026 Issue

Lessons from my friend Hagar

I felt a strong but peaceful mental nudge to look at the experiences of Hagar in the Bible.

Kim Kilduff

Years ago, I was writing software to control and monitor a hardware system that was being built by the company I worked for and would be used on a military mission. I was part of a very capable team, and I put together a solid software package. But to complete my part of the system, I needed specific information that was in a developer manual. (This was shortly before all of this would become available via the internet.)

I informed the project manager multiple times that I needed this manual and asked that he order it. His repeated response was to ask if the software was completed yet and to remind me that we had a deadline that could not be moved. As I waited for the information I needed to complete my task, our working relationship devolved into one of annoyance and disrespect, and we both worried that the project wouldn’t be finished on time.

While God met Hagar’s basic human needs for her and her son, He first met her need for humility, patience, courage, and so on.