The God Who Sees
Genesis 16:6-13
May 12, 2019
There’s a few things we all have in common. One of them is the fact that at one time we were all children. And one thing I’ve learned about kids is that they love to be watched. They love to be noticed. It comes in different shapes and sizes, but they want to be known.
I can remember watching my boys when they were younger, and sometimes it still happens when they say, “Hey mom, hey dad - - watch this! Look what I can do! Look at me!” Your heart may stop when you realize what they’re doing, but whatever it is, they want to be noticed and known.
In the end, I believe that’s true for all of us. We all want to be known. We want people to know we exist. Christian author and speaker, Nicole Johnson was talking about being a mom, she said this - -
One day I was walking my son Jake to school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when the crossing guard said to him, “Who is that with you, young fella?”
“Nobody,” he shrugged.
Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My son is only five, but as we crossed the street I thought, “Oh my goodness, I’m nobody?”
As Nobody, I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to my family, like “Turn the TV down, please.” And nothing would happen. No one would get up or even make a move for the remote. I would stand there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, “Would someone turn the TV down?” Nothing.
That’s when I started putting all the pieces together. I don’t think anyone can see me.
I’m invisible.
It all began to make sense! The blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’d think, “Can't you see I'm on the phone?”
Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner. No one can see me, because I’m the Invisible Mom.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more. Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?
Some days I’m merely a clock to ask, “What time is it?” I'm a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the Disney Channel?”
Some days I’m a crystal ball: “Where's my other sock? Where's my phone? What’s for dinner?”
Hands, a clock, a crystal ball—but always invisible.”
I don't know if you’ve ever felt like that, but today as I do on Mother’s Day, we’re going to look at a woman from the Bible we need to know more about. This is a woman who we really don’t think about that often. But through her story, hopefully we will see a new truth in our lives.
The story comes from the book of Genesis, chapter 16. Let me set the back drop for this story.
God promised Abraham that he would have a child who will be his heir. But Abraham is in his late 90's and Sarah is in her late 80's. It seems impossible to them. Since Sarah hasn’t conceived, she tells Abraham to have a child with her servant, Hagar. Hagar becomes pregnant, and Sarah and Hagar begin to clash with one another. We pick up the story in Genesis 16:6 –
6 Then Sarah dealt harshly with Hagar, and Hagar fled from her. 7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar by a spring of water in the wilderness. 8 And God said, “Hagar, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarah.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 “I will surely multiply your offspring so that their multitude cannot be numbered.” 11 “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael (God listens), because the Lord has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” 13 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 16:6-13
Hagar was trapped in a system where she felt invisible. She has no rights, dignity, freedom, or choice, and she’s had enough. It’s hard to be a nobody with no name. She was there to serve a purpose.
Hagar didn’t want to be some invisible person who is simply a vessel. When she runs away she doesn’t know what she wants until she meets the living God. Then it hits her.
As God tells her some not so nice things about her son, what strikes her is that her greatest need is when she meets the God who meets that unbeknownst need. And in verse 13, she names God - - El Roi — "the God who sees."
I found that fascinating that this was the name she gave to God. If we could give God any name, what would your name for God be? Have you ever thought about that? If you had the chance to name God, what name would you give Him?
The God who loves! The God who comforts! The God who leads! The 2nd Chance God! The God of Grace! The God of Victory! Whatever you choose would actually say as much about you, as it would about the character of God, because it’s through our need that we experience God in our deepest way.
Hagar, felt insignificant and misunderstood, yet, she’s actually a very significant person in the Bible. Think about it – Hagar has the longest conversation of any woman — and almost of any man — in the Old Testament with God.
Hagar, the Egyptian maid, is the only person in the Bible who gives God a name.
Up to this point, God gave Himself names. He called Himself Elohim—"the Creator," Yahweh—"I am Who I am," El Shaddai —"God Almighty, Jehovah Rapha - The God who heals, Jehovah Szavaot – God of the heavenly armies."
These are majestic, not always personal names to us for God, but often times we’re just like Hagar and we need a personal God, we need a God we know and believe who sees us and knows us. We want an intimate name for God. So, Hagar meets God and declares “I have met the God who sees me!”
Can you imagine the difference that makes in our lives when we recognize God sees you. He knows you. Of course He does, but aren’t there times when we wonder if anyone, let alone God, sees us and knows us? It doesn’t matter if you are female, male, young or older.
I believe we all have a fundamental need to be seen.
I read a story about an extremely hyper preschool boy who settled down and built a great rocket. He was so proud of what he did. He sat amazingly still and was so focused on completing his rocket.
When all the kids left school that day, his mother was running late and when she came in to get him, and this boy stood excitedly and held up his rocket and said, “Look at my rocket, mom!” She never noticed. She just said to him, "Hurry up! I'm in a hurry!" And as quick as she came into the room, she was on her way out. And the boy was trailing behind, shoulders slumped and the rocket dangling at his side.
Some of us know what that feels like. To be overlooked, ignored, forgotten about. Hopefully, we learn and don’t repeat that history. I know as a parent, a husband, a friend, a coach - - I can be in a hurry, and can brush aside something someone is trying to tell me, whether it’s a child or adult.
William Tammeus was a Christian journalist for the Kansas City Star. He wrote, "You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around — and why his parents will always wave back." Isn’t that so true! The kid will risk falling off to wave to you.
Why do we need to be seen? Why do we long for a God who sees and what difference does that make for us? It makes all the difference in the world because to be seen is to be significant, it’s to know our roots.
In Psalm 139, David wrote this about God –
13 You God, formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 15 my body was not hidden from you. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance. – Psalm 139:13, 15-16
God not only created us, but He saw us before anyone else did. Not only did God have a picture of who we would be and what we would look like, He now watches over us, His masterpiece.
In Jeremiah, the Jewish people were in exile and God told Jeremiah in 24:6-7 –
6 I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
While the people were in exile in a foreign land, I’m sure they wondered if God still remembered them, still cared for them. After all, they had turned from God and now they were suffering. There was no more singing and worship.
Yet, that’s God talking about His children. “Hey, I’m still watching you, I still see you, I have a plan to bring you back home.”
When a family member leaves. Don’t we stand in the driveway, waving and watching until we can’t see them anymore? I know when Joshua and Zachary are driving a longer distance, we want to know when you leave and when you arrive. It’s hard to imagine I have kids who drive cross country. I still struggle with them driving to Indy, and I have one who drives through the mountains. Yes, I want God watching over him.
Why is that? Because when I can’t see my boys, I can turn to God and say “God, I can’t see them.” And God can tell me, “It’s all good, Michael, I can see them!”
It’s great to know that God loves us! Listen to this verse. It’s actually one of Debbie’s favorite verses. It’s from Zephaniah 3:17 — 17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save, He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. – Zephaniah 3:17
Isn’t that so cool!! Our God, my God, your God . . . is in our presence. He will save you and will joyfully rejoice over you, He will calm you by His love and He will rejoice over you with loud singing. Isn’t that cool! God does that for you!!
Psalm 33:13-14 says –
13 The Lord looks down from heaven; He sees all the children of man; 14 from where God sits, He looks out on all the inhabitants of earth.
There’s a sense of comfort. God sees me, He knows who I am. I am not insignificant. I am loved. In spite of all of our insecurities, and we have them. Don’t let anyone fool you, we have them . . . in spite of them, God sees you and loves you. To be seen is to be significant, it's to be safe, it's to be understood, and it's to know that you are known by the God of all creation.
God’s greatest desire for us is that we know Him, because He knows us. He wants us to be able to relate with Him. doesn't shut us down; he releases us. To be seen is to be strengthened. 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us –
9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the whole earth . . .
Why? So God can destroy you and condemn you?! NO!!!
... to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him.
I love that! God isn’t looking for our screw ups, He’s looking at us so He can give us strong support.
The thought of God seeing her, gave Hagar courage. She did go back to Abraham and Sarah.
God loves every person He has created, and that means you and it means me. To be seen is to be loved and God looks on us with love. He will never force us to love Him.
I want to close by finishing reading the article from Nicole Johnson, the mom who felt invisible. She wrote –
One night, some girlfriends and I were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and was telling wonderful stories. I sat there, looking around at the others all so put-together, so visible and vibrant. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic when my friend turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package and said, “I brought you this.” It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: “With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.”
Johnson added, in the book, there was the legend of a rich man who came to visit a cathedral while it was being built. He saw a worker carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.” And the worker replied, “Because God sees.”
After reading that, I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
“No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, no last minute errand is too small for Me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become. But I see.”
When I choose to view myself as a great builder — instead of Invisible Mom — I keep the right perspective.
Friends - whatever is going on in your lives - - you have a God who sees you! A God who loves you and died for you. All because of His love for us. And because of that He sees you, even when nobody else does.
