Kingdom Women: Eve, Sarah & Hagar - Identity, Faith, Creativity & the God Who Sees
Inside the current cohort of SOUL Collective, my international community for Christian creatives, we began exploring a new series on Identity and Kingdom Women.
SOUL Collective is where women from different places, backgrounds, and creative expressions gather to grow in faith, creativity, community, and spiritual encouragement. It’s often part Bible study, part creative exploration, part prophetic encouragement, and part sacred space for artists and other creatives who are learning to walk more fully in who God says they are … and can be. It’s all about possibility, honesty, and authentic life experiences as artists.
We’re diving into a great topic and we’re all getting so much out of it, that I thought I’d bring a little piece of that conversation here and give you a little peek behind the curtain.
In this current cohort, we are choosing one woman (or more if time allows) to ‘deep dive’ into Scripture, out of a list of 3-5 women every two weeks (I chose Hagar, something about her story resonated with me deeply and I wanted to take a closer look).
We’re looking at these women, not as distant Bible characters tucked neatly into ancient history, but as layered, complex, very human women whose stories still speak to us today. Their lives carry questions many of us still carry as women, creatives, leaders, mothers, daughters, friends, and followers of Jesus. Questions like:
Who am I after failure?
Am I too late for the promise?
Does God really see me Will this wilderness last forever?
Can He still use me in my brokenness?
Will He redeem my story or relegate it to the shadows as I often do?
What does it mean to create from a healed and rooted identity?
And in our last Zoom call, we talked about the first ‘mothers of the faith.’ And where better to begin than at the beginning? Three unforgettable women from Genesis: Eve, Sarah, and Hagar.
Each of them carries a very different story, but together they give us a powerful picture of identity being formed, tested, restored, and revealed. And what I love most is this: God did not meet them only in their strongest moments - the greatest part of their stories are rooted in their challenges, failures, and weakness. That gives me so much hope for all of us. Because identity is not usually revealed when everything is tidy, healed, mature, and sparkling with a little spiritual glitter. Often, identity is revealed in the tension.
It is revealed when shame tries to speak louder than grace. It is revealed when the promise takes longer than expected. It is revealed when the wilderness feels lonely and dry. It is revealed when God comes near and reminds us who we really are.
Eve: You Are Not Disqualified, Dear Creative
Eve’s story begins in Genesis 1–4. She was the first woman, the first wife, the first mother, and the first woman to know both intimacy with God and the painful weight of shame. She knew what it was to be fully known and unashamed. And then she knew what it was to hide. After the fall, Eve hid.
But God came looking. That matters.
God did not abandon Eve in her failure. He came near. He called out. He covered shame. And even in the middle of consequence, He released the first promise of redemption through the offspring of the woman.
Right there in the place of failure, God planted the seed of redemption. Eve reminds us that one mistake does not get to become our identity. Shame does not get the final word. God is still the One who covers, calls, restores, and continues the story.
For artists and creatives, Eve can also speak to the tender beginnings of creativity: curiosity, vulnerability, influence, and the courage to create honestly rather than hide. She reminds us that our choices matter, but they are not more powerful than God’s redemptive plan.
Sarah: You Are Not Too Late, Beloved Artist
Sarah’s story unfolds in Genesis 12–23. Her life was deeply connected to promise, but that promise took a long time to become visible. She was called into a covenant story much bigger than herself, yet for years she carried the ache of barrenness. She lived in the tension of being told she would mother nations while her body told a very different story.
Sarah represents waiting. She reminds us of the places where we believe God, but we still wrestle. The places where hope is real, but so is disappointment. The places where the dream feels delayed long enough that we start protecting ourselves from hope.
And yet, God did not withdraw the promise because Sarah struggled to believe it. Instead, He reaffirmed His word. He visited the promise again. He opened Sarah’s womb in old age. And what once sounded impossible became Isaac, whose name means laughter.
I love that. Holy laughter, born from a place that once felt impossible!
Sarah reminds us that waiting does not mean abandonment. Delay does not mean denial. And sometimes the promise is not only about what God wants to give us, but about who He is forming us to become.
For women, artists, and creatives, Sarah speaks to every delayed dream, every long obedience, and every creative calling that feels past its expiration date. God is not intimidated by time.
Hagar: You Are Not Invisible, My Daughter
Hagar’s story is found in Genesis 16 and 21, and it is one of the most tender and powerful stories in Scripture. She was an Egyptian servant, an outsider, and a woman with very little power over the circumstances of her own life. She was used, mistreated, displaced, and sent into the wilderness.
And yet, God met her personally. Not once, but twice.
In Genesis 16, when Hagar ran into the wilderness, the angel of the Lord found her. He spoke to her. He gave her direction. He gave her a promise concerning her son, Ishmael. Then Hagar did something extraordinary. She gave God a name. She called Him El Roi, “the God who sees me.”
The God who sees me.
This is one of those moments in Scripture that stops me in my tracks. A marginalized woman in the wilderness, a woman pushed to the edges of someone else’s story, encounters God so personally that she names Him from the revelation she received.
Hagar represents the woman who has felt unseen, overlooked, used, dismissed, or treated as secondary. She represents survival, resilience, fierce love, and the stunning truth that God sees those others overlook.
Later, in Genesis 21, when Hagar and Ishmael were in the wilderness again and the water ran out, God heard the boy crying. Then He opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well. The provision was there, but grief and exhaustion had made it hard to see.
That feels painfully familiar, doesn’t it? There are seasons when provision may be nearer than we realize, but sorrow, fear, rejection, or exhaustion clouds our vision. Hagar reminds us that God not only provides, He also opens our eyes to see what He has placed near us.
For us as women of faith, artists, and creatives, Hagar speaks to the wilderness places. The dry places. The lonely places. The places where we wonder whether anyone knows how hard it has been. Her story reminds us that God is present there too. God hears. God sees. And God provides.
Three Kingdom Women, Three Identity Truths
Together, Eve, Sarah, and Hagar reveal three powerful truths about identity and our position as Kingdom women.
Eve reminds us: You are not disqualified. God covers shame, restores intimacy, and keeps His redemptive promise moving through our lives.
Sarah reminds us: You are not too late. God can breathe life into delayed dreams and mature us in the waiting.
Hagar reminds us: You are not invisible. God sees us in the wilderness and opens our eyes to provision, promise, and future.
These Kingdom women show us that identity is not built on perfect circumstances. It is not built on never failing, never waiting, never grieving, or always being valued by others. Our identity is rooted in the God who comes near. The God who covers Eve. The God who renews Sarah. The God who sees Hagar. And the same God comes near to us.
Creating From Identity, Not For Identity
As women of faith, artists, and creatives, this matters deeply. So often we try to create for identity. We get caught in creating to ‘prove’ we are gifted enough, spiritual enough, original enough, successful enough, or worthy enough to be seen. But Kingdom creativity invites us into something different.
We do not create in order to become loved. We create because we already are loved. We do not create to earn identity. We create from the identity God has already spoken over us. Scripture reminds us:
“You have an anointing from the Holy One.” — 1 John 2:20 NIV
“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” — 1 Peter 2:9 NIV
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine.” — Isaiah 43:1 NIV
Before there was striving, there was belonging, before assignment, there was adoption, and before purpose, there was love.
A Kingdom woman does not chase identity. She walks in it. When we create from that place, something begins to shift. Our art becomes less about proving and more about presence. Less about performance and more about partnership. Less about fear and more about freedom. Whether we are painting, writing, teaching, gathering women, making mixed media art, keeping a journal, leading a community, or simply showing up honestly before God, we are invited to create from what is already true.
We are His. And what a beautiful thing that is!
Reflection Questions for Kingdom Women
- Where have you been tempted to believe that one mistake disqualified you from intimacy, beauty, or purpose?
- What promise, dream, or creative calling has felt delayed long enough that you’ve started protecting yourself from hope?
- Where have you felt unseen, overlooked, or pushed to the margins, and what did that experience make you believe about your worth?
- What “well” of provision might already be present in your life, but grief, exhaustion, disappointment, or fear has made it difficult to see?
- How is God inviting you to create from identity instead of striving for it?
A Declaration for Kingdom Women
I am a daughter of the Most High King. I am chosen and deeply loved.
I am not disqualified by failure. I am not too late for the promise.
I am not invisible in the wilderness. I am seen, known, covered, called, and anointed by God.
I do not create ‘for’ identity. I create ‘from’ identity.
As a Kingdom woman, I do not have to chase who I am. I walk in it.
Until next time, my beloved friends, stay lovely and so very you! xoxo, Debra
Debra Hart is an Atlanta, Georgia area fine artist, writer, and creativity guide. She delights in encouraging creatives in their journey of discovery, skill development, and overcoming barriers to loving their best creative life. A redeemed perfectionist, she approaches her life and art from a place of mystery, grace, and love of her Savior, Jesus Christ - the best Adventurer of all.