The God Who Sees Us
Do you ever feel unseen? By God? By others?
I do.
This morning as I was reading the story of Hagar, I was reminded of the reality that we are seen by God. Twice, scripture records Hagar out in the desert, in despair. Feeling very much unloved, desperate, unseen.
In Hagar’s desperate situation, God meets her in the desert. God wants Hagar to remember that he hears her, so he tells her to name her soon-to-be-born son, Ishmael, God hears (Genesis 16:11). In this moment, Hagar gives God this name: “The God who sees me–El Roi”. As a remembrance to this encounter, the nearby well was named as the well of the God who sees me, Beer Lahai Roi. Here, Hagar declares “I have now seen The One who sees me” (Genesis 16:13).
Fast forward a few more years, Hagar again finds herself in the desert, in a desperate situation (Genesis 21:14-20). God again hears her cries and provides water for her and her son, in the desert.
The story of Hagar reminds me of another story of God seeing us. The story of Nathanael under the fig tree.
In John 1:43-51, Nathanael meets Jesus. In this encounter, Jesus reveals to Nathanael that he saw him while he was under the fig tree. We aren’t really sure what thoughts and/or prayers were part of that moment; irregardless, Jesus wanted Nathanael to know that he was seen by Jesus, known by Jesus. In response to Nathanael declaring Jesus as the Son of God, Jesus affirms his identity as God dwelling among us.
How wonderful: to be seen by God–not as a “you better not pout…Santa Claus is coming…” kind of way, but rather in a compassionate way: hearing our prayers, seeing our moments of hope and our moments of desperation…and meeting us there.
–Melissa Logsdon
NCF Associate Pastor