Do you ever feel overlooked or dismissed by others? Or find yourself telling yourself your life doesn’t seem to carry much value? Or worse than that, do you feel overlooked by God Himself? Hold on to this…God is saying, “I see you!”
Let go of the kind of thinking that makes you feel ignored and isolated. Because the truth is that God Himself sees you, loves you, and values you. The story of Hagar found in Genesis 16 (Message Bible), gives us reason to be assured of that…
Sarai, Abram’s wife, hadn’t yet produced a child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, “God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her.” Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.
So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Abram had been living ten years in Canaan when this took place. He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress….Sarai was abusive to Hagar and Hagar ran away.
An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur. He said, “Hagar, maid of Sarai, what are you doing here?” She said, “I’m running away from Sarai my mistress.”
The angel of God said, “Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse.” He continued, “I’m going to give you a big family, children past counting. From this pregnancy, you’ll get a son: Name him Ishmael; for God heard you, God answered you…She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, “You’re the God who sees me! Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him!”
Hagar was an Egyptian slave, and likely worshipped Egyptian idols. And yet, God saw her. He poured out His mercy on her. And He encouraged her. He displayed the attributes of one of His descriptive names, El Roi, the God who sees.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, “how much more” will God see you and do for you? (See Matthew 7:11) He wants you to hear Him saying, “I see you!”
Hagar chose to not run away from the problem. Instead, she received His instruction and accepted His help. She realized that the God of the universe did indeed notice her and cared about her situation.
I hope you will too.
If you’re needing more encouragement,
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