Tag Archives: god sees us

January 31, 2023 · 5:50 AM

Being Invisible

I love practical jokes. The more elaborate, the better. I saw a video of a practical joke where a magician was performing in a park to a crowd. Everyone was in on it except for the person who walked up and joined the crowd. After a bit, the magician needed a volunteer. The person who walked up was chosen. After he made them “disappear”, a person from off screen would come and interrupt the show and take the magician away. While the magician was away, two people would come up and take a selfie in front of the chair. When the unsuspecting person saw the phone, the didn’t see themselves and thought they were invisible. Some who “disappeared” had fun with it, but most panicked when no one could see them. They desperately tried to get people to acknowledge them, but the crowd who was in on it, pretended they weren’t there. When the magician felt they had enough, he would return and make them “appear” again.

In Genesis 16, Abraham and Sarah had been told by God they would have a child. After waiting and trying and not seeing they answer, they preempted God’s plan. Sarah gave her maid, Hagar, to her husband in order to have a child. After her son was born, Hagar taunted Sarah to the point that Sarah kicked her out, but God saw her and comforted her. She called Him El Roi the God who sees me. He then sent her back. Several years later Sarah gave birth to Isaac. When he was weaned, she had Abraham kick out Hagar and her son. Hagar found herself in a desperate situation in the desert. Her resources were gone and she had no hope. Right when she was giving up, God showed up and showed her an oasis of water to meet her needs. God proved to her again that she was not invisible to Him and that He cared for her.

Psalm 33:18-19 says, “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine” (ESV). I want you to know that no matter how dire your situation, how depleted your resources are and how invisible you feel, God sees you. His eye is on you. Continue to hope in Him and He will deliver you from the famine you’re in. He has not forsaken you. He has not forgotten you. In my own life, I’ve found that God uses those desperate, wilderness places to reposition us and to build our faith in Him. You may feel invisible to the world around you, but God sees you. What feels like and ending is often God creating a new beginning for you.

Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash

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June 29, 2020 · 5:58 AM

God Hears And Sees

One of the things that happens when we’re going through a tough time is that we get tunnel vision as the world seems to close in on us. We tend to hunker down and shut people out. We feel like running away to escape our problems, but know we can’t. If you’re like me, the problems weigh heavy on your mind and make you feel fatigued. It’s a lonely place, and it feels like it’s you versus the world. Many times, it can feel like your prayers are going unheard. You even start to wonder, “Where is God? Doesn’t He care?” Your prayers seem to feel flat and it’s like they aren’t being heard. Going through times like this are tough, especially when you feel like you’re doing what God told you to do.

I’m sure Hagar felt all these things. She was Sarai’s handmaiden and had been given to Abram as a second wife so that God would fulfill His promise to give Abram children. When she got pregnant, Sarai began to hate her and verbally abused her to the point that she did run away taking what they thought was the fulfillment of God’s promise. I love verse 7 of Genesis 16. It says the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring and said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?” (AMP) He knew the answer, and even called her by name. He blessed her and told her to name her son Ishmael which means “God hears”. “Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, ‘You are God Who Sees’” (verse 13).

Even in the wilderness and under attack, God spoke to her and proved to her that He hears and sees us in our most desperate times. Matthew 10:29 says that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing. You are worth more to Him than a sparrow, and He knows the very number of hairs on your head. While it may seem, and even feel, that you are all alone and that God doesn’t see you or know what you’re going through, He does. He sent Hagar back to Sarai from that well, and He may leave you in your situation, but it doesn’t mean that He doesn’t care. Being under pressure and in difficult situations often produces a faith in us that we can’t get any other way. It opens our eyes to see that God is there with us in those times guiding us, listening to us and blessing us even when it doesn’t feel like it.

Photo by Austin Mabe on Unsplash

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January 11, 2016 · 5:30 AM

The God Who Sees

  
Have you ever felt like God doesn’t see you? Does it feel like He doesn’t see you or even know your name? It sometimes can feel like God has forgotten you when things aren’t going your way. Hagar, Sarai’s maid servant, felt that way. She had been handed over to Abram as a wife by her master with the intent of getting pregnant and giving up her child to Sarai. No one asked her or God if that’s what they wanted, but here she was pregnant with Abram’s seed. She was despised by Sarai and chased off.

She found herself going from a place of security to insecurity. She went from knowing where she was going to sleep and not having to worry about food to being homeless and hungry. She broke down in the desert. She wept and cried out to God. He sent an angel to meet her in the wilderness. He called her by name in Genesis 16:8. He said, “Hagar, where have you come from and where are you going?” (NLT)

The angel of God knew where she was and her name just like He knows your name and where you are. You may be crying in the wilderness because you’ve been done wrong as well, but God sees you. He will meet you in that place and bless you. He will not leave you in the wilderness unprotected and despondent. When you cry out to Him, He will answer because you are not forgotten. You are important to Him and are not hidden from His view.

In verse 13, she calls God by a new name, El-Roi. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” In that moment, the doubts fled. She knew that God saw her broken in the wilderness. If He saw her, then He sees you. Each one of us are important to Him. You don’t have to be living the blessed life for Him to know where you are. You can be a single mom who is homeless and not sure where to go or what to do like Hagar, and God will hear your cry because He sees you. No matter how bad things are, you are not forgotten. God sees you and will meet you in your wilderness.

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