Sometimes we think that God had forgotten us. We think that we are not important enough to be thought of by God. We think we are not deserving of his love or attention. We may begin to judge ourselves by societies standards. However, when we do this we find ourselves trapped in a downward spiral. However, God’s standards are not the same as ours.
In Genesis we read so many stories of how God led his people and promised them the land. We often focus on the stories of Abraham, Issac, Jacob (Israel) and the rest of their line. However, we often forget about Ishmael and his mother Hagar.
Here is the story of Hagar “so she (Sarai) said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. 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. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” 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 16:2-13 NIV
Hagar was a slave, who did exactly as she was told by her mistress and then was punished and mistreated because of jealousy. She ran away because of the mistreatment. However, in the midst of this, God came to her. She saw that God saw her.
If God sees one who by all standards is a nobody, how much more is it that He sees us? Today this is a reminder that You are seen, You are known. He knows your name, He sees you and is there for you.
Fitness and Faith 