So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees me,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” (Genesis 16:13)
As Hagar fled an abusive situation, she settled in the wilderness and I can only imagine the thoughts that ran through her mind as she thought through her past, tried to wrap her mind around what to do in her present, and the fear she must have felt over not knowing what on earth her future might hold. It wasn’t a great time to be a woman alone, since the culture would shun her and she faced possible further abuses depending on who would find her next. It was in that hour of need and hopelessness that she came to realize and understand that God saw her and was looking after her.
It’s completely natural and a human instinct, when in any kind of perceived danger, to respond with “fight or flight”. Our brains do this subconsciously and sometimes we fight with all our might, and other times we may freeze or run away, either physically or in our minds. But in those moments, God sees us and He’s there with us, and He wants us to know and remember that.
A little bit prior to this verse, we see that God found Hagar in the wilderness. God pursued her to comfort and look after her because He loved her. We don’t read anything about Hagar crying out to the Lord, but it says in verse 11, that the Lord listened to her affliction. He saw her and heard her heart’s cry, that while silent to human ears, befell the loving and kind ears of our Heavenly Father and He came and found her. There wasn’t anywhere she could have gone that God wouldn’t have pursued after her.
It doesn’t matter where you find yourself today, there isn’t any place in this universe that you can go that God won’t pursue you because He sees you and loves you!
So if like Hagar, you find yourself in a situation where you are literally or figuratively fleeing from a situation, being in a sort of wilderness and hopeless, remember that God sees you.
He created you, He loves you, He is pursuing you, and He will look after you.
You can trust Him.
He is always kind, He never changes, and He will never leave you. He will always be there to heal your hurt, mend your wounds, and restore your soul.
Just as Hagar came to the realization that God saw her and that He looked after her, calling Him El Roi, the God who sees me, I pray that you let that truth sink in today and walk in freedom with Him, knowing that God sees you!