The blessing of being seen: (and to have the hope that one, as a result, may also be known, loved, admonished, celebrated, and served.)
Genesis 16:7-13:
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 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.
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
13 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.”
In acknowledging, her the most immediate and reassuring question in her heart was answered…. her name and status were already known…. “God sees me.” She was not invisible. She was seen AND known…. at least in the first and most immediate way in which one could be known, by name and status, or “name and rank”. What an acknowledgement! I am… I am seen and I am not alone! She was desperate enough, lonely enough, to be willing to engage with Someone who at least knew she existed. Someone saw her and by engaging her, allowed Himself to be seen, too. It gave her courage to answer the questions that followed, at least the part she could. “Where have you come from and where are you going?”
“I am running away from my mistress.” The second part of the Lord’s question was left unanswered because Hagar had no answer……She had no plan, no future, no hope. The next words from the Lord show His further knowledge of her situation. He fills in all the blanks, giving her hope and a future…..Just as Jeremiah 29:11 brought God’s encouraging Word to exiles in another place and time to make the most and best of the current difficult circumstances: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
When we feel unseen, despearate, and alone we can be assured that God sees us. And in knowing we are seen we may also be assured that God knows us, and loves us, and even when He admonishes those He loves, He will celebrate and serve us with a plan for hope and a future if we are obedient, no matter what manner of mess we have found ourselves in.
This seems to be the same invitation He gave to Adam and Eve when they made this mess through disobedience as He sought them out with this question, “Where are you?”
There is a set of self-evaluation questions that can be used retrospectively as we abandon denial, fear, anger, rebellion, hopelessness, etc. and confront the mess we’re in to move us into readiness for transformation of our thinking:
What did you do?
What were you thinking?
What did you hope to accomplish or expect would happen from this action?
Who was affected and how by your actions?
Was it Christlike?
What are the consequences to you and others?
If you could go back and reconsider this action, would you do it again?
Are there things you would do differently?
What lessons have you learned from this?
What changes will be necessary to avoid repeating it in the future?
Will you make those changes?
Wherever we run to, whatever posture of misery we find ourselves in, no matter the cause, God is there. He sees. He hears. He responds with the offer of hope and a future. Redemption awaits.
When we face consequences, our first impulse often is to run from them, but The God Who Sees is also revealed as The God Who Is and the God Who Engages. When we quit running we discover He is also The God Who Loves and Who Makes A Way.