To the God Who Sees Me

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.”… “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16: 7-9…13

Have you ever felt invisible? Like you’re being pushed around in a crowd of people all demanding to be heard, and you have little chance of making your voice heard in the chaos? Maybe you’re in a crowded airport waiting to be re-booked onto a flight and the obnoxious person next to you is playing the part of the squeaky wheel. Or maybe you’re the youngest or meekest in the family or work team and your ideas never rise to the top. Or maybe you’re an immigrant female without a husband or family who has just been subjected to advances and intimidation you never asked for but from which you are powerless to protect yourself.  The degree of invisibility and helplessness can vary widely of course, but the problem is the same. Why would anyone pay attention to a single quiet voice when there are louder, larger, more prominent voices calling out. 

As we read in Genesis, this was the problem of Hagar. Hagar is the little-known mother of Ishmael, the OTHER son of Abraham, the one who is NOT Isaac. She was NOT one of God’s chosen people. She was NOT the wife of Abraham. God did NOT promise Hagar and Abraham that their descendants would become the leaders of His great people, Israel. Yet on two occasions, when Hagar ran into the wilderness and cried out to God in despair over the treatment she and her child were receiving from Sarai/Sarah, the angel of the Lord was quick to find her and meet her needs. “You are the God who sees me”, she says. She hears the messages of care and concern clearly and follows the instructions God gives her.

In these crazy modern times when so many are calling out with needs, when the haves and the have-nots are easily identified, when it may seem hard to find justice in our human world, the God of Hagar still hears each of us when we call out, and He cares about our needs. He loves us so much that He even sent his own son to die for us. All we need to do is to turn to reach out to this God and share our needs and concerns; even to share our need to be seen and loved.

Prayer: To the God who sees me, thank you for seeing me. Thank you for hearing me and for never measuring my needs against anyone else’s. Thank you for wanting abundance for me and for always having the time for me. Thank you for loving me so generously that you even came into my world to walk, to live, and to die. As your hands and feet in the world, help me to also see with your eyes and to “see” those who are easily overlooked, but who need your love. Amen

Lori Snyder-Sloan