A woman wanders desperately in the wilderness. She has nowhere to go but knows she can’t go back to where she is running from. She has been mistreated, a foreigner with no rights. What should have been joyful news led to further pain and injustice. She is utterly alone. “Alone” - that is a scary word. I can identify with feeling alone. Not to the extent that this woman can, but it’s still a lie that Satan knows can send me spiraling… “you are all alone.” I think that’s why this woman’s story means so much to me. This is why God’s promise to this woman is a promise I hold tightly too.

An angel of the Lord comes to Hagar. He speaks to her and tells her what to do and that the Lord sees her situation. Hagar leaves the encounter with a name for God…

“Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.’” Genesis 16:13

The past few months have been difficult and this is the truth I have told myself daily: “God sees me.” He hasn’t forgotten about me. He isn’t confused by my situation. He sees me, He is here with me in the midst of this situation. He loves me. He knows…He knows the pain, the desperation that I feel, the fear, He knows and He cares. I am known by my God. The powerful One who never sleeps is attentive to my situation. I am not alone.  

In the challenges you face today, what are you believing? Choose to cover your mind and heart in this truth today - I invite you to read the next lines out loud. Declare them in the country you are in and I will declare them in mine.  

God sees me. He is present in this situation and I will choose to remember that truth so that I can silence the lies that are bombarding my mind. He is the God who sees me. I will choose to believe that “You (God) are my strength; I wait for You to rescue me, for You, O God, are my fortress. In His unfailing love, my God will stand with me, He will let me look down in triumph…” Psalms 59:9-10