God is a God of order who places everything in its correct time and who will not be rushed by our determination to usher things in out of season.
Ok, back to the real convo…
I live right across from a 730-acre park full of trees, trails, and creeks. Those trails (and my street) are usually filled with fallen leaves this time of year, leaving a rainbow of color at my feet when I step outside to walk the dogs each morning.
Recently, I’ve been feeling a little unnoticed – mostly by God, a little by man. Even though I know He sees everything, I just wasn’t feeling like He cared about how I felt. Maybe He sees the circumstances, but doesn’t notice my feelings about those circumstances.
As I was walking through the trails in this nearby park, a leaf released its grip and fell from a tree a few feet in front of me. As I watched it slowly make its landing on the ground before me, I felt the Holy Spirit begin to whisper in my ear.
“I saw that.”
I stopped walking. Stood perfectly still. Listened to the wind in the trees and the rustle of leaves overhead as several more broke free and fell around me.
“Saw those, too.”
Nothing – absolutely nothing – taking place in His creation escapes His sight.
I smiled, and I started walking again, noticing all of the details happening in the woods around me, taking joy in the fact that nothing – absolutely nothing – taking place in His creation escapes His sight. The leaf that fell in front of me, the spider that crossed my path (scaring me half to death), the turtle sunning itself on the log in the middle of the creek… my feelings of isolation and being forgotten… He sees all. Every detail. Even the parts we think we’re hiding.
We can be confident that He sees us because Scripture tells us so. There’s a story from the book of Genesis that I referenced early on in our conversations, way back in August. The story of Abraham has always been one that challenged me and encouraged me. But on this particular day, with leaves falling around me, it wasn’t Abraham that I related to most. It was his wife’s slave Hagar who occupied my mind.
Generally speaking, I think Hagar gets overlooked in favor of the hero Abraham. But when Hagar enters the story, Abraham reads as less of a hero and more of an Adam-in-the-garden kind of guy. Allow me to summarize…
I have now seen the One who sees me.
God promised Abraham and his wife Sarah a son (for accuracy, I’ll acknowledge that they were still called Abram and Sarai at this point; however for the sake of familiarity, I’ll refer to them as Abraham and Sarah).
But time passed, along with Sarah’s child-bearing years, so she decided to help usher in God’s promised through means of her own logic – she told her husband Abraham to sleep with her slave Hagar in hopes that he would conceive a son that way. Which, for the record, was not God’s way.
The plan is successful, and Hagar conceives Ishmael. But now that she’s pregnant Hagar starts to despise her mistress. Sarah complains about this to Abraham, essentially blaming him for her servant’s mistreatment of her – even though it was Sarah herself who initiated this whole plan. Long story short, Sarah sends Hagar into the wilderness, pregnant and alone.
Here was this woman who was, by all accounts, a victim of her circumstances. She was a slave; it’s not like she could have refused her master’s instructions. We have no record of her asking for this child. And now, she was banished and unable to care for or provide for herself.
Until an angel of the Lord shows up, comforts her, and instructs her as to her next steps. And Hagar responds with “I have now seen the One who sees me.” This is – in my opinion – one of the most beautiful statements in the Old Testament. In this moment, there is an intimacy birthed between Hagar and God, a moment where creation recognizes the Creator.
I wonder what He sees when we can’t see Him.
She was seen. In her hurt. In her fear. In her loneliness. In her anxiety. In her shame. In the injustice. She was seen.
We are seen. And that changes everything, even when nothing around us changes.
As I mentioned earlier, two things can be true. And for Hagar, that was certainly the case. While it seemed like her life was hopeless in the wilderness, there was new life forming in her womb. God saw that too.
Could the same be true for us? I wonder what He sees when we can’t see Him.
Out of the depths of my soul, while the earth prepares to be dormant, faith for new life is brewing within me.
Beautiful and powerful. This blessed me! The awareness of being seen by God makes such a difference!
Amen!! So glad this reminder blessed your heart this morning 🤍
I love how God sends us little assurances along the way. Whether it’s a falling leave or a well timed text or phone call. His eyes are always on us, seeing and meeting our needs.
Absolutely nothing escapes his glance! 🤍
I love the idea of “two things can be true.” Yes there may be darkness in this world that causes things, people, and places to be unseen due to this cosmic darkness but this one thing holds true. His light has overcome this present age of darkness.
God hears you & God sees you.
In every season God reveals himself whether we are tuning into His frequency or not. Whether it be through creation, through the Word, visions, dreams, prophecy, a small whisper, the Holy Spirit, or through His beloved children… He never leaves us nor forsakes us & I’ve experienced this firsthand. We may sometimes ask ourselves:
“God, where are you?”
“Do you even hear or see me?”
The answer is and always has been: Surely I am with you always!
The God of love desires to be with us and for us…
The issue is: Do I trust Him to deliver on His promises and faithfulness?
Another issue that arises in my heart is: Am I perceiving what God has so perfectly designed to teach me as “disorder” in my life or am I looking at it as an opportunity to be transformed into the perfect order and image of Christ? Humans as I’ve learned (because of our sinful nature/lack of dependence on the Lord) can usually get one thing right and that is to take what God sees as order and good for us in season and turn it into chaos for our lives. We’re pretty good at messing things up (For all have fallen short of the glory of God and has missed the mark). However, by His steadfast love and persistent grace, we get the opportunity and the blessing to be transformed into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. The question that leaves us questioning the very life that God has graciously given to us is through what lens am I fixing my eyes upon? An earthly lens that brings spiritual death or an eternal lens that brings forth Kingdom identity and freedom? When we may feel unseen, unheard… or a a little unnoticed (a very familiar place for me either by God or man), there is an upward call. A call to go deeper, wider, and beyond ourselves to explore the depths of God’s mercy, grace, and unfailing love. Even though disorder & chaos comes swiftly surrounding us with hopelessness, anxiety, despair, and doubt; God is still calling us to Him because He is a God who stays and never leaves, who protects and never hurts. This upward call beckons us to “stop and stare”- gazing upon the the precious image of God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. His creation and all the angels cry out Holy, Holy, Holy. The sight of creation-broken but beautiful, redeemed and restored through the precious blood of Christ leaves us yearning for more of His presence as His glory fills the earth and the heavens. Even through the sinful nature of mankind- a breaking of the old life brings forth a new nature that is bringing forth new life which dwells within us, being consecrated for the work and will of God- a transformation that only is received through Christ by declaring with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead. My prayer, as my heart cries out to this familiar place of being unseen and unheard unwinds throughout me but the joy that comes with this is a truth that I have come to believe and claim over my life, the truth that only Jesus can flood my entire being of my life with the glory and righteousness of God through the Holy Spirit and leave me in an unfamiliar place where I knew I was always meant to be: Being constantly at his side, being filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in His presence. My prayer is that we become a set apart people to display the glory of God and His works becoming aware of not only the seen… but the unseen. The invitation is readily available in the presence of God.
For He is the God who sees me and I’m known by Him.
Amen! Thank you for sharing this with us!