The God Who Sees You
Today’s Bible Verse
She (Hagar) 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.”
(Genesis 16: 13)
(Genesis 16: 13)
One of our greatest assurances in the Lord our God is that He sees us. During many challenging moments in life, such as times of struggle, pain, loss, sickness and failure, we complain and lament, "Is God really watching this happening to us? Isn't the Lord seeing what we are going through?" But as time goes on, we realise, time and again, that the Lord's eyes were always on us, and we learn that He is a God who is concerned about doing the best in our lives. It may be true that God would have been silent at times without answering us, but let us be assured that He sees us. God not only sees our situations, our physical conditions, our appearance, our lifestyle, our surroundings, our financial situation, our needs, and our debts, but most importantly, He sees our hearts! 1 Samuel 16: 07 says, "People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” In the same way, Psalm 44: 21 reminds us that the Lord "knows the secrets of the heart," and in Psalm 139: 04 we find David saying "Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all."
Genesis, chapter 16, teaches us an important aspect of faith that we, as believers in the true God, must remember. Having been mistreated by her mistress, Hagar flees from her mistress and is found lonely near a spring in the desert. She is pregnant, and indeed her inner feeling about the physical and social insecurities she felt at that moment would have been unexplainable and devastating. While Hagar is in this state, the angel of the Lord appears to her, speaks to her, counsels her to get back to her mistress, and shares promises about the son to whom she is going to give birth. And then, Hagar says, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me” (Genesis 16: 13). We are able to see two important parts of the faith through this passage. First is Hagar's experiential learning that God sees her. Second is her reflection on her own faith that she has seen the Lord who sees her. Hagar learns that she is being seen by the Lord, and she also rejoices in the fact that sees the Lord who sees her. Being seen and seeing!
Being Seen: “You are the God who sees me”
Hagar's words keep ringing in our hearts. As children of God, we are called to be witnesses of the love and care that we find in the Lord. We believe in the Lord who sees us. Today He sees the various situations, pressures and conditions that have surrounded us and He has answers to all of them. It takes time and patience to wait and see how and when the Lord provides answers and solutions. But, as believers, we are called to experience and testify that God sees us. He sees us not just like others would, but He knows every single yearning and ache that our hearts would feel. He knows exactly how it feels. He sees our dreams and visions. God knows His time. He answers exactly when we need the things that we have been yearning and praying for. The first part of the faith is to know, believe, experience and testify that God sees us. We are called to testify the same in this world saying "Jesus is the Lord who sees me."
Seeing: “I have now seen the One who sees me”
The second part of Hagar's words reminds us of the reflection of the first. Now that we have experienced the faithfulness of the Lord and we know that He sees us, our next part of the faith is to reflect on it and to search for Him. This becomes the important part that many of us may ignore. Once we are assured that the Lord is watching over us and He sees us, we become comfortable with everything around us and we begin to enjoy what is provided. But seldom do we remember our part in this assurance. The more we are assured that the Lord sees us, the more we need to remember that we need to have the desire to see Him, His ways, and His truth. We are seen by God and we are called to see Him! Look at the feeling of accomplishment in Hagar's words when she says, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” When are we going to say those words?
Let the words "Beer Lahai Roi" (Genesis 16: 14), which means take us near to the well where we receive this lesson from. In Hagar's life, it meant "The well of the Living One who sees" and in our lives let the words remind us of "being seen, and seeking." Let the words Hagar said at Beer Lahai Roi lead us into a life of assurance, faith and a closer relationship with the Lord. God sees you, and you are called to testify this faith and seek Him.
May the blessings of God the Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus the Son, and the fellowship and guidance of the Holy Spirit, be with us as we continue to seek Him.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
🎶"He Sees You"
by Allison Aldrich
