God Sees Us

This Christmas has been a welcome reprieve from the countless events, fundraisers, and day-to-day duties of my job. Recently, the failures have seemed massive, the surprises are never good, and the lack of control has me overwhelmed.

I have found myself lingering on Hagar’s story, in Genesis 16:

“The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.” … She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” ” Genesis 16:7-11, 13-14

In our pride and our shame, God sees us.

In our joy and our pain, God sees us.

In our victories and our failures, God sees us.

A few weeks ago, I found myself defeated and discouraged, and Hagar’s name for God has breathed life into me! 

How beautiful that the outcast, the slave, the unwanted, communes with God and names him El Roi: “God of seeing me”. 

How beautiful that God saw it fit to meet Hagar where she was, defeated and beat down, and speak life into her.

How beautiful that generations later, God sees us and our need for a savior, becomes flesh and blood, and is born into our world to walk through suffering and pain.

Friends, we serve a God who sees us, who knows us, who desires us…may we rejoice and rest in that truth this Christmas.

—Emma Boardman