Scripture: Genesis 16:1-13 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Devotion: In recent years, I walked through a season of life that had me feeling fairly isolated and alone. It felt like no matter who I talked to, no one noticed that I was struggling. In an effort to not bring others down, I isolated myself even more. It was a vicious cycle that was fulfilling itself over and over again. And that is when I started to really cling to the reminder that God sees me. Everything that I go through, every emotion that I feel, and every question that I wrestle with, God sees me. He isn’t simply observing my life. No, He sees me.
El Roi. “The God who sees me.” Of all of the names that are given for God in the Bible, this is one that really resonates with me. Perhaps it is because whether I am in a season of getting by day to day, wrestling through something, or living in a joyous abundance, it is something that I can remind myself of. Perhaps you are in need of that reminder, too.
When you wake up in the middle of the night with your kids, God sees.
When you work long days to provide for your family, God sees.
When you have been wronged by a friend, God sees.
When you’ve poured into your job and they unexpectedly let you go, God sees.
When you work through doubts and questions, God sees.
When you feel alone and like no one notices you, God sees.
He is the God who sees you, the God who hears you, and the God who cares for you. And He meets you right where you are at, every single time.
Reflect:
- What areas of your life do you feel peace and reassurance in knowing that God sees you?
