How many times do you and I feel, lost, outcast, alone and forsaken. And yet our Father sees us. We are not alone, nor forsaken. We look around and see wilderness, look inside and feel anguish, but He is there with us too. Sometimes it's so hard to find Jesus when we are suffering. Our struggles and sadness loom larger and larger, yet we are assured in the Bible, He' is the God Who sees. In Genesis 16:6-15* Hagar is running away from her home with Abram and Sarai. She was being mistreated and chose to run from the harsh hand of her mistress Sarai. Left alone, her resources and prospects were dim. She'd rather face the dangers of the wilderness and the unknown than live beaten and mistreated. And yet the Lord saw her. He sent her an angel with instruction and reassurance.
In Hagar's case the instruction was to submit to the very mistress she ran from. Sometimes God asks us to stay in difficult circumstances. But He knows and sees the blessing and good that will come from our hardships.
Hannah felt forgotten. We see her story in 1 Samuel 1**. She was childless, a very unwanted and "looked down upon" position in her day. She was thought to be "less-than" other women. We know Elkanah's other wife taunted Hannah. "No children!" She may have said. "I guess I am the one the Lord favors! You must be displeasing to Him!" On and on it went til Hannah sank into a deep depression and didn't even want to eat. But the Lord saw her. The priest may have thought Hannah a drunkard at first, misunderstanding her deep misery that was causing her to pour out her heart to the Lord, but the Father knew better. He granted her request for children and gave her Samuel, one of Israel's greatest prophets and leaders.
Hannah's request was granted by the Lord. Sometimes we see our hearts desire fulfilled quickly.
In John 8*** we meet a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. She was a sinner. She had broken God's laws and according to that law was destined for and deserving of death. She must have been terrified when she was dragged down the street and thrown down in front of Jesus' feet. I can only imagine the fear she must have felt when all these men around her started picking up stones. The shame she felt seeing their angry, sneering faces. And yet Jesus quietly bent down and began writing in the dirt. Confusion must have joined the fear and shame swirling around her heart. As Jesus stood up and looked at her, she was probably thinking, here comes the condemnation. Can you imagine her surprise when He said, "All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!" Could Jesus really be saving her?
Yes He was. He washed away the accusations. Instead of condemnation she found forgiveness from the One who saw into her heart and into the hearts of her accusers.
God is the God who sees us. Whether it's difficult circumstances, unmet needs or our own sin, our Lord never abandons us. Sometimes it's so hard to find the God visits. But they are there and we are never alone or unloved.
Lord, You are the one Who sees me. So often I feel adrift and yet I know that in Psalm 139:7 I am told "I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your Presence! How wonderful is that news! Thank You Lord that no matter what I see, think or feel, the truth is You always love, always care, always stay with me. Please help all of us to see more clearly Your Presence in our every day lives and in our darkest struggles. Open our eyes to the God visits and increase our faith. In the always loving Name of Jesus. Amen.
Listen to the song and just soak in God's Presence today.
*Genesis 16:6-15 Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away. 7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” 10 Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”
11 And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. 12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.” 13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” 14 So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.
**1 Samuel 1:1-18 1 There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim. 2 Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. 3 Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. 4 On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. 5 And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. 6 So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. 7 Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat. 8 “Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?” 9 Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. 10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. 11 And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” 12 As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 14 “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” 15 “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16 Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” 17 “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” 18 “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
***John 8:1-11 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” 6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
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