A God who sees us

Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”………………..
Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”
Genesis 16:7-8,13

He already knows your name. One amazing thing I learn from this first appearance of the Angel of the Lord, is what hope it gives to all of us. The Angel of the Lord is an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ and this event is very similar to the time Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at well. In both cases He shows His full knowledge of where the woman has come from and what is going on in her life.

Hagar had run away and was hiding in the wilderness when the Lord found her. He already knew what she was dealing with but asks her so that she would be in conversation with Him. He is a God who seeks to be known by His own people. This story is an example for us, that He wants to meet us where we are at in our lives. He does not just leave us there though, he helps us to walk ahead and directs us to move forward. He is the God who sees us, just as Hagar says in verse 13. He sees us.

It is not always going to seem like He cares about what is going on in your life. Often He is going to feel like a million miles away. But even in the darkest hours of life, He is there with you and knows where you are. When Jesus met with the woman at the well, He called Himself the water of life. Both Hagar and the Samaritan woman were searching and needing this life desperately. Neither would have guessed He was the eternal life that would give them rest.