There is nothing quite like being seen. More than acknowledged, actually SEEN!

I know. Sometimes I don’t want to be seen either. Like the morning I decide to run to the grocery store with bed head and sleepy eyes. Then I am glad for anonymity.

The majority of the time, I want to know that I am seen. It is someone remembering my name after only one interaction, recalling details from the conversation, bringing my favorite beverage, made just like I like it. It is someone asking about the vacation I took, the book I am reading, the difficult time I faced – all these combine to touch the deepest part of my longings. To be seen is a big deal.

In the book of Genesis, Abram and Sarai were promised a son. It was getting late in life and the window of opportunity was swinging shut for this couple. So they devised a plan of their own to accomplish God’s promise to them: borrow Sarai’s maidservant, Hagar, and have a child through her. Abraham agreed; Hagar conceived; she got haughty; Sarai got snotty. Hagar fled.

Sitting in the desert, uncertain of where she would go, an angel visited Hagar.

⁷The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur.  ⁸The 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. ⁹The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” ^{. . . 11} 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. . . ¹³Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” 

Genesis 16:7-13

The angel didn’t just acknowledge Hagar. The angel knew details about her life – her name and who she worked for, that she was pregnant and that the child was a son and then her son was given a special name. The most encouraging name, Ishmael meaning “God hears” because he heard her cries of distress – he saw her. Every time Hagar called her son, she would remember that “God hears” her. She was SEEN!

Have you ever longed to be seen? For your cries of distress to be heard? Be assured God hears those cries, he sees you. Maybe an angel won’t come and name for your firstborn, but he sees you.

My challenge for you today is this: pause and quiet your mind and body for a minute. Relax into a comfortable position, prepare your heart to listen. Ask God, “When have you seen me?” Begin writing the images, phrases, situations, places that come into your mind. HE SEES YOU! AND HE ADORES WHAT HE SEES!