God Sees Through the Trees

“And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?” (Ge 16:13 AV)

Hagar was in dire straits.  She was in the middle of the wilderness after fleeing from Sarah, her mistress.  Giving birth to a son in the stead of Sarah, this added conflict.  Hagar believed mothering a son for Abraham would change her status.  This was not so.  She was still the handmaid of Sarah.  This did not sit well between the two of them so Hagar fled the face of Sarah.  No, she is in the wilderness, all alone, and nowhere to turn.  She is as low as she could be.  It is there God sees her.  The question above is not exactly in the grammar we are used to.  Hagar is saying that God saw her even when she was not looking for Him.  This statement is formed in a question.  The point is, in our deepest times of distress, sometimes, we are so overwhelmed it doesn’t occur to us to seek God.  That doesn’t stop Him from seeking us.

We have a new member of our small little household.  Being empty nesters, we need someone, or something else, in which to invest some of our parental love.  The LORD graced us with a Christmas gift called Toby.  He is an adorable little puppy who loves laps.  The other day, he was getting off my lap and caught my moving foot.  He landed a bit hard on his front shoulder and incurred a deep bruise.  Needless to say, he was in a bit of pain for quit a while.  I laid him down and kept some ice on it to relieve the pain.  While waiting for our vet’s appointment, we nursed him as best we could.  Something odd happened.  After a bit, he got out of his bed and wanted to crawl under the Christmas tree.  He would rather crawl into a hiding place, removed from the help we could give him, to be alone and nurse his own injury.  He ran from the help we could give him and was more interested in laying on a hard floor, causing more pain, than accept the help and relief we could give him.  I am glad to report Toby is doing just fine.  He is almost back to normal.

What Toby did, we are frequently doing the same.  We run from the help that is staring us in the face.  Hagar ran from Sarah when the help she needed was right there.  Had she apologized for her presumption and continued to serve her mistress; she wouldn’t be in the wilderness.  However, praise the LORD even though she ran and didn’t seek God, God still found her.  This is for what Hagar is praising the LORD.  She now sees the LORD as a God who sees her.  No matter the circumstances of life, God sees you.  You can run and hide, but God sees.  You can wallow in the deep waters of life and even if you feel God doesn’t see you, He does.  We can be overwhelmed at the situations of life, and because of the emotional toll it takes, we forget that God sees.  But He does!  No matter what we are going through, even if we do not seek God, He sees us!  What a comforting thought.  He will never leave nor forsake.  He has promised.  Remember that God sees.  If we do, we will be inclined to pray and fellowship with God.  It starts with the faith that God is there.  He always was and always will be.