Psalms 34:15 NLT
You are probably familiar with the story of Abraham and Sarah. As well, you probably are familiar with the “Hagar incident.”
Sarah, being barren, encouraged Abraham to have a child by Hagar, Sarah‘s servant.
It seems that as soon as Hagar became aware that she had conceived, she began to treat Sarah with contempt. So, being very distressed with the situation, Sarah confronted Abraham concerning Hagar‘s behavior towards her.
Abraham left dealing with Hagar to Sarah, as Hagar was her own servant. Sarah then began to deal harshly with Hagar, causing her to run away into the wilderness.
As the story goes, the angel of the Lord found Hagar in the wilderness, and instructed her as to what she should do.
“The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. 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. The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” 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. 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?” 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.”
Genesis 16:7-11, 13-14 NLT
Hagar’s interaction with the angel of the Lord caused her to address the Lord as, “You are the God who sees me” (El Roi in Hebrew). In fact, this name for the Lord first appears in the Bible in the story of Hagar.
Hagar must’ve felt very alone and scared out in that wilderness. But it doesn’t take being in a wilderness to experience the feeling that no one really sees or understands what you’re going through.
I suspect that you can identify with that lonely, sometimes desperate, feeling. Indeed, most of us can. Ironically enough, sometimes we can feel alienated and alone, even in the midst of a crowd, even in the midst of our own family and friends. And, we may feel this way, even when we know there are others who are ready and willing to help us.
In our opening scripture, we see David expressing his confidence in the fact that the Lord watches over the righteous, sending help when it’s needed.
Child of God, whatever you are going through. No matter how alone you feel. Please understand that as you call out to the Lord from a heart that is broken and yielded before Him, He will not fail to see you. He will not fail to answer you.
I’ll leave you today with some lyrics from an old spiritual that originated in the days of slavery in the United States. People, working hard in fields owned by someone else, cultivating and raising food for someone else to eat, found solace in these words:
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows but Jesus
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Glory, Hallelujah
Indeed, we can all find solace in those words.
No matter what our situation, no matter how bleak the road we walk, He knows! He sees! He cares! He answers!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
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