One Who Sees

Genesis 16... There are a few different things I could share from this story but I just want to focus on the thing that really stood out to me. 

I imagine when Hagar found out that she was pregnant, she must have realized that Sarai had used her in order to build a family. I think I would feel pretty bitter about that as well. It is an awful feeling to be used for other's selfish motives. Anyhow, I can only imagine the thoughts and emotions filling her during that time. It became so much that she must have thought that she could not face it anymore, so she ran away.

Here's the awesome part of this story... God didn't abandon her, in fact, He did the opposite. It says that after an angel of the Lord came to Hagar, she used another name to refer to the Lord. She referred to Him as "the One who sees me." This is a great picture... Go back to speech class. Remember learning the difference between hearing and listening? Hearing is just the ability to sense a sounds, while listening is being able to interpret that sound. Listening is a conscious effort... something that requires an interest in order to understand. I view looking and seeing in that same way. You can look at something, but not really see it for what it truly is. Now think about a painting. You can look at a painting, and even see some of the thought that went into it... but only the painter can truly see the complete purpose and meaning of it. Only when you go to the source and ask the painter what he/she was trying to portray will you begin to understand it. Even then, you won't just understand right off the bat. It takes thought and some digging into our emotions. 

God, our creator, sees us wholly and completely. He understands every detail about our being. I just find the greatest amount of comfort in knowing that I'm understood and seen by the One who made me... the One who knows me better than I know myself. 

I'm the first to admit that I have a difficult time seeing. I don't constantly or truly see- whether it is others, myself, or God. But I want to be intentional about trying to. I want to sincerely seek my sight from the sure source! 

Genesis 16... There are a few different things I could share from this story but I just want to focus on the thing that really stood out to me. 

I imagine when Hagar found out that she was pregnant, she must have realized that Sarai had used her in order to build a family. I think I would feel pretty bitter about that as well. It is an awful feeling to be used for other's selfish motives. Anyhow, I can only imagine the thoughts and emotions filling her during that time. It became so much that she must have thought that she could not face it anymore, so she ran away.

Here's the awesome part of this story... God didn't abandon her, in fact, He did the opposite. It says that after an angel of the Lord came to Hagar, she used another name to refer to the Lord. She referred to Him as "the One who sees me." This is a great picture... Go back to speech class. Remember learning the difference between hearing and listening? Hearing is just the ability to sense a sounds, while listening is being able to interpret that sound. Listening is a conscious effort... something that requires an interest in order to understand. I view looking and seeing in that same way. You can look at something, but not really see it for what it truly is. Now think about a painting. You can look at a painting, and even see some of the thought that went into it... but only the painter can truly see the complete purpose and meaning of it. Only when you go to the source and ask the painter what he/she was trying to portray will you begin to understand it. Even then, you won't just understand right off the bat. It takes thought and some digging into our emotions. 

God, our creator, sees us wholly and completely. He understands every detail about our being. I just find the greatest amount of comfort in knowing that I'm understood and seen by the One who made me... the One who knows me better than I know myself. 

I'm the first to admit that I have a difficult time seeing. I don't constantly or truly see- whether it is others, myself, or God. But I want to be intentional about trying to. I want to sincerely seek my sight from the sure source!