Our God Sees

by Amy Ruiz

“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.’” 
–Gen.16:13

Do you recall the story of Hagar? Most of us know the story of Abraham and Sarah from Sunday School days, but sometimes the story of Hagar is glanced over. To set the stage, you may recall in the Old Testament story of Abraham (originally known as Abram) that God made a covenant with him that he would be the father of many nations. Abram and his wife, Sarai (later Sarah), found this to be a little ridiculous because well, quite frankly, they were as old as dirt. God assured them that He knew what He was doing and that they could trust Him. They did, but only for a little while. When things weren’t moving along as quickly as they wanted, Abram and Sarai took matters into their own hands.  

Sarai decided that since she had been unable to get pregnant, she’d let her husband sleep with her Egyptian servant and have a child through her. Enter Hagar. (I know…this is crazy!) Shock of all shocks, Abram agrees, and Hagar gets pregnant.  

Now, in reality TV drama fashion, Hagar begins to treat Sarai “with contempt” and Sarai blames it on Abram. So, Abram tells Sarai that she needs to deal with it…in turn, Sarai makes life so awful for Hagar that she runs away. And she doesn’t just leave their compound…she travels, all alone and pregnant, about 75 miles away. Can you imagine the fear and loneliness Hagar would be experiencing? Then, while she was resting, an angel of the Lord found her and told her that the Lord heard her cries. This was her response:  

“You are the God who sees me…I have now seen the One who sees me” (Gen.16:13).

Hagar was in a state of desperation; she had to feel like her world was falling apart. And yet, knowing that God saw her brought Hagar comfort, and gave her direction. She believed what the angel said, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count” (Gen.16:10). God’s presence and the fact that He saw her, reaching out to Hagar when she thought she was all alone, changed everything and brought her hope.

Friends, the God who saw Hagar, sees you. He sees you amid your loneliness, in the midst of your fear, and in the middle of the unknown. He sees you and hears you. He also sees and hears your co-worker, your neighbor, your friend…every single person holds tremendous value to God.

Want to know the best part? We get to be like the angel who found Hagar and tell those around us, “God hears you! He has a plan for you! You are loved beyond measure!”

We have a God who sees!

For more reflection, I would like to direct you to a song written by Kathie Lee Gifford and Nicole C. Mullen. It is called The God Who Sees. I hope it will bless your heart as it has mine.