Tag: God who sees

He Sees and He Can

Genesis 16-19

Husbands – don’t always listen to your wife – she doesn’t always know.  Younger sisters – don’t always listen to your big sister – she doesn’t always know.  What trouble we can get into when we follow the advice and direction of those who are trying to solve matters on their own without patiently relying on God’s perfect way and timing.  Our reading today of Genesis 16-19 both opens and closes with women deciding how to take matters into their own hands (or into their maidservant’s hands) when they felt there were no other options available to get what they wanted – a child to carry on the family line and receive the family inheritance.  Perhaps Sarai figured God needed her help to fulfill the promise God made that Abram would have a son.  Maybe she thought she was wiser and knew the best way to get to the desired end result on her timetable.  I don’t even want to guess about Lot’s daughters. 

At the same time, I realize I am sometimes quick to judge and point fingers, when I sometimes don’t know the whole story and I am not chosen by God to be the judge and jury.  For example, Lot’s willingness to offer up his virgin daughters to the lewd and dangerous mob at the door has always bothered me greatly.  And maybe it should.  And yet…in his second letter Peter writes that God, “rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)” (2 Peter 2:7.8).  Peter is giving Lot a bit (or a lot) more credit than I would have.  And then I just read a study note in my ESV Archaeology Study Bible that “Lot may have been attempting to bring down the law on the heads of the culprits” (p39) as in many cultures of that day the punishment was death for a man caught lying with a betrothed virgin.  I certainly hadn’t considered that possibility before. 

Perhaps sometimes I am not as smart as I thought I was.  Perhaps sometimes I work a little too hard to find a bad guy in the story?  And yet, I DO need to try to be discerning.  I do need to read God’s word to know more and more about who God is and who He wants me to be.  So, what are some take aways that can help me know God and who He wants me to be? 

Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed as an example of what happens to the ungodly.  (Peter says that, too, in 2 Peter 2).  Don’t be Ungodly.  There is a right way and a wrong way to live and there are consequences for both which God will bring about in His time and His way. 

Humble Hospitality is Huge.   Old man Abram is running to get dinner prepared with the finest ingredients for the visitors and then stands while they eat (your guests might think that part is weird – you can sit).  Lot won’t take no for an answer and brings the visitors to his home to spend the night and is prepared to protect them with all he’s got.  How can you practice some humble hospitality? 

Our God is a God who sees.  Hagar is right.  God not only sees her and hears her but He speaks to her, He encourages her and He shows mercy and care for her AND for her unborn child.  I do find it interesting it is not recorded that He tells Sarai what she did wrong (like I did) but there are several verses here devoted to making sure we know that God saw, heard, encouraged, directed and cared for Hagar and her child.  Maybe the lesson for myself is don’t be so busy finding the wrong that you don’t do the right.   Who does God want me to see so I can encourage, care for and point them in the right direction?

God’s promise to Abram which we talked about yesterday continues to grow – now it is added that from Abram will come nations and kings, and even better, God will be their God and also Sarah (notice the little name change) will be blessed and from her will come her very own son and nations and kings. There is also that part about circumcision and Abraham walking faithfully, and being blameless and chosen to command his children and household to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. These are tied to God’s promises to His people. What does God want you to do to show that you are His?

Perhaps MOST importantly in these chapters and in our lives is the realization and understanding that there is NOTHING too hard for the Lord!  In this case they are talking about 90 year old Sarah having a child with 100 year old Abraham.  It seems impossible, because normally it is, but our God is not a human, He is not normal.  He specializes in the impossible!  Your needs are not too big for Him.  Your case is also not too insignificant for Him.  He is the God who sees and the God who has never and will never run into a project too hard for Him. 

– Marcia Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. When have you felt seen by God? When did He show that nothing is too hard for Him? What problems are created when we don’t believe God sees or God can?
  2. What does God want you to do to show that you are His? What does He promise to do for you?
  3. Who does God want me to see so I can encourage, care for and point them in the right direction?
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The God Who Sees Me

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 15 & 16

Psalm Reading: Psalm 10

New Testament Reading: Matthew 9

We have a need to be heard.

We have a need to be seen.

In today’s Psalm, the psalmist begins writing about a wicked man who preys on the weak, he doesn’t seek God, “in all his thoughts there is no room for God” (Psalm 10:4), he is haughty and God’s laws “are far from him” (10:5), he is full of lies and threats, and, “He says to himself, ‘God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees'”(10:11).

There are those who would like to think that God never sees. Don’t be one of them.

In the second part of the Psalm, the psalmist calls out for God to arise and take action, remembering the helpless.

“Why does the wicked man revile God: Why does he say to himself, ‘He won’t call me to account’? But you, O God, do SEE Trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand…You HEAR, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you LISTEN to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed” (Psalm 10:13, 14a, 17a)

And it just so happens that our reading in Genesis has an excellent example of this. Unfortunately, our very own Sarai and Abram, to whom God had promised a child and descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, got tired seeking God’s way and waiting on Him. Perhaps Sarai didn’t think God really saw her trouble and grief, or wasn’t able to do anything about it, if He did see. So her solution (and an accepted custom of the time – still not making it right) was to have her husband sleep with her maidservant Hagar and build a family through her. Hagar did become pregnant and jealousy and bitterness mounted within the household leading Hagar to run away.

She had been oppressed, abused and used.

But God heard her cry.

An angel of the LORD tells her it will be safe for her to go back to Sarai and resume her servant’s role, but that won’t be the end of her story. She will have a child and her descendants will be too numerous to count. I love that she was told to name her child Ishmael which means ‘God hears’. What a great life-long reminder she would have every time she said his name. I also love Hagar’s response. After God named her child, this oppressed and helpless Egyptian servant girl who just met God in the wilderness gives a name to God. “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 16:13 NIV).

You are the God who sees me.

What a privilege to be seen by God.

In our Matthew reading we see that God has passed along this compassionate, caring, seeing trait to his son Jesus as well. Jesus sees the paralytic in need of forgiveness and healing. Jesus sees (and eats with and calls) the sinners and tax collectors (much to the dismay of the pharisees). Jesus sees the sick, the dead, the blind, the demon-possessed, the crowds that are like sheep without a shepherd. He sees and he has compassion and he gives hope and a new life. I am sure God is proud of His son – seeing these traits passed down.

Jesus says there is still work to be done. The harvest fields are full of the sick, the sinners, the oppressed, the Hagars. They want to be seen. They want to be introduced to the God who sees. Pray for God to show you where He wants you to work in his harvest field.

-Marcia Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. Are there times you have resembled the man of Psalm 10:4 – “In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” How will you make room in your thoughts for God and seek Him? What role does pride play?
  2. When have you known God sees you? How can you introduce others to the God who sees and His Son who gives a new life?
  3. What did God reveal about Himself to you in your reading of His words today?
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