The God Who SeesSample

The God Who Sees

As a slave and a foreigner, Hagar was probably used to feeling invisible. That is, unless her mistress, Sarah, wanted something. And when Sarah demanded her husband, Abraham, have a child with Hagar as a servant, Hagar had no choice but to obey. However, when Hagar got pregnant, Sarah became abusive and mistreated her.

Imagine being forced into something and punished by the person who placed you in that situation. Hagar probably not only felt unseen but helpless. So she ran.

We don’t know how long she ran or even where she was going. She might not have known either. What we do know, though, is that God met Hagar there in the desert.

Up until this point, Abraham and Sarah called Hagar “slave,” “maid,” or “maidservant,” depending on the translation you read. They never referred to her by her name, just what she was to them. God was the first one to call Hagar by her actual name. And as God called out Hagar’s name, Hagar became the first person in the Bible to name Him.

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.” Genesis 16:13 (NIV)

In the depth of Hagar’s pain, she developed something so personal with God. Nobody, not even Sarah, had yet experienced what Hagar did in the wilderness.

You might feel like no one sees you —like the only time anyone even looks your way is if they need or want something from you. But God sees you and all the things you’re going through and struggling with. He sees you — all of you — and He will meet you in the place where you feel most alone.

Challenge: Write down Genesis 16:13 somewhere you'll see it. Memorize and meditate on this verse for the rest of the week as we go through this devotional.