Have you ever felt like your problems weren’t actually your fault?
- Someone else made a mistake at work, but you have to fix it.
- Your husband wanted the new TV, but now you both have more credit card debt.
- Your son told his teacher a lie, but you have to make it right with her.
Hagar had problems that weren’t her fault. She had obeyed her mistress Sarai and did what she was supposed to do. Now that Hagar was carrying Abram’s child, Sarai turned on her. She fled to the wilderness. The angel of the Lord met there. He told her she would bear a son and name him Ishmael, which means “God hears.”
Hagar responded, “So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen him who looks after me’” (Genesis 16:13).
She called Him El Roi, the God who sees me. She named her son Ishmael, God hears.
Friends, we don’t have a god who is distant, or busy, or hands-off. He sees. He hears. He knows. When you feel you are in the wilderness, when your problems aren’t even your fault, He sees.
I’m the middle child, and as you may know, we are often ignored (I’m sure if you’re the oldest or youngest, you disagree, but all the other middle children know it’s true). In my teenage-angst I often thought, “No one notices me. They don’t even care.” Even as an adult there are times I think, “No one really gets it. They don’t even care.”
Then I remember God sees. He sees everything—the struggles, the triumphs, the lows, the highs. God hears. He hears everything—the cries, the laughter, the whispers.
If you feel invisible, know that you aren’t. Like Hagar, praise God for seeing and hearing you today.
Thank you Sandra for this encouraging word! God sees, hears, and knows!