You are the God who sees me (Genesis 16:13).
This is the story of Sarah’s Egyptian slave girl Hagar.
Abraham and Sarah lived in Egypt for a time, and that is no doubt when Abraham
procured Hagar for his wife. But Hagar is not an Egyptian name; it’s
Hebrew, and means forsaken. What father would name her that? Her Hebrew name,
likely given by her mistress, makes her story all the more fascinating.
After Hagar got pregnant with Abraham’s child, she despised
Sarah and in return Sarah mistreated her, provoked by jealousy. When
Hagar (Forsaken) could take it no more, she ran away to the most forsaken place
she could find – the desert. There she had an encounter with God, who assured
her that her cries had been heard.
As a woman, a foreigner and a slave, Hagar had no standing
in society, and yet the God of the universe found her in the wilderness, met
with her and comforted her there. And in the loneliest place on earth she gave
God a new name: You are the God who sees me. Can’t you almost hear
her? “Even though I am forsaken, you are the God who does not forsake
me. Even though I am rejected, you are the God who does not reject me. Even
though I am unseen, you are the God who sees me.”
TODAY’S MEDITATION
When you feel forsaken,
rejected, forgotten and maybe even invisible; can you take comfort in knowing that
God sees you? Is there someone you know who feels invisible? How can you assure
them that God sees them too?
Is this a trick question, none of us want to feel rejected by others or even invisible, we all want to be loved and feel needed by others. When I start as I sometimes do, having feelings of isolation I dig in a little bit more. Which is to say that I begin to pray more and ask God to show me how much I am worth to Him and to those around me. I also am very honest with my wife and I will tell her that I am having these types of thoughts and she reminds me of all the many things that God has given and blessed us with. I love my wife she is the strong person in our relationship and keeps me on the straight and narrow. When we see others in this depressed position we need to remind them that they have a place in God’s plan and that they need to just be reminded that God loves them and His blessing never stop like we think they do sometimes. We could let them know by mentioning many of the things that God blessed them with and remind them that we love them as well.
ReplyDeleteIs this a trick question, none of us want to feel rejected by others or even invisible, we all want to be loved and feel needed by others. When I start as I sometimes do, having feelings of isolation I dig in a little bit more. Which is to say that I begin to pray more and ask God to show me how much I am worth to Him and to those around me. I also am very honest with my wife and I will tell her that I am having these types of thoughts and she reminds me of all the many things that God has given and blessed us with. I love my wife she is the strong person in our relationship and keeps me on the straight and narrow. When we see others in this depressed position we need to remind them that they have a place in God’s plan and that they need to just be reminded that God loves them and His blessing never stop like we think they do sometimes. We could let them know by mentioning many of the things that God blessed them with and remind them that we love them as well.
ReplyDelete