God Who Sees Me [Genesis 16]

⁷Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai."

 ⁹Then the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority."

 ¹⁰Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."

 ¹¹The angel of the LORD said to her further,
         "Behold, you are with child,
         And you will bear a son;
         And you shall call his name Ishmael,
         Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.
    ¹²"He will be a wild donkey of a man,
         His hand will be against everyone,
         And everyone's hand will be against him;
         And he will live to the east of all his brothers."

 ¹³Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees"; for she said, "Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?" ¹⁴Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. ¹⁵So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

 ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

"Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him." He was seventy-five when God told him to leave his country and go to a new place where God would make him a great nation.  So for eleven years Abram has been waiting for God to fulfill His promise.  When Sarai came up with a plan, he agreed, "So Sarai said to Abram, 'Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.' And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai."  If you know the story, you know that Sarai and Hagar resented each other when Hagar became pregnant.  But God had compassion on Hagar and spoke to her directly through an angel. 

Her response to God's compassion was to call God a new name, "You are a God who sees."  When she named the well she personalized it to be "You Are A God Who Sees Me."  Some of my friends are in a desperate place.  They feel despised by a husband or mother-in-law, alone and forsaken.  My prayer today is that they will not miss seeing God's persistentlove and compassion and overwhelmingly know Him as "God who sees me."

I praise You God, You are a God who sees me.  Thank You that as my heart aches for my friend I can know You are taking care of her.   You see her in her need and You may ask her to stay in a hard place but You will sustain and protect her.  You are a "God Who Sees" and understands!