Seen

“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.’
That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi”
(well of the Living One who sees me).
Gen. 16:13-14

“What is the matter, Hagar?
Do not be afraid; God has heard…
Then God opened her eyes,
and she saw a well of water.”
Genesis 21:17, 19

Hagar (meaning flight or forsaken), the handmaid of Sarai, acts as a model of hope amid distressing circumstances. Tasked with bearing a son for her mistress Sarai, Hagar was thereafter banished to the desert in what must have felt like an ultimate act of betrayal and unkindness from her mistress. Feeling forsaken and feeling unseen, Hagar took her chances on the harsh desert being kinder to her than her mistress, who had mistreated her. She truly was “forsaken” and felt no other option than “fleeing” from her mistress, as her namesake implied.

Lest we miss the lesson here, Hagar’s hope was restored upon encountering the truth that she absolutely was seen. She was beside a spring of water when, in the throes of anguish, an angel spoke comfort to her, predicting the birth of her son whom she named Ishmael, “God will hear.” She had the courage and resiliency to return to her mistress and endure her less-than-perfect circumstances, declaring a truth statement over her life through her son, that God not only sees me in my suffering, but he hears me.

Approximately seventeen years passed by before Hagar found herself in desperate straits, once again. We are told that Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael and 100 years old when Sarah gave birth to Isaac. The age when a child was “weaned” could range between three, when Isaac would no longer nurse, and nine years old, when he did something of significance warranting his father’s approval. It was around Isaac’s weaning celebration that Hagar was once again forsaken and “sent away” in the wilderness. Once again, she was left wandering in the desert, forsaken and alone.

Once again, be reminded of the lesson Hagar presents to us. When we do not see, or when we feel aimless and deserted, He has not lost sight of where we are on our path. Even in the middle of the desert, He can position us to see a well that gives life.

This time, God “Heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven” (Gen. 21:17). He exhorts Hagar and opens her eyes to the lifeline of a spring. Hagar was told God has heard. 

I think that if I were Hagar, I would be tempted to rehearse all the wounds Sarai had inflicted on me, and I would point to the oozing puss as proof of her taunts and abuses—seventeen years of sorrows.

But Genesis does not record Hagar’s laments. It records her declaration of “One who sees.” Seventeen or so years later, we do not read the annals of Hagar’s history of wretched heartaches; we read about how “He heard, then he opened her eyes, and she saw.” When she knew He heard her trials, she took comfort. This is similar to the Israelites in their Egyptian bondage. “The Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people…and have heard their cry…; I know their sorrows” (Exodus 3:7). Hagar, too, could continue living loved.

What is your well of water you long to see? What are the words you long to hear? Be assured, He hears you. Be assured, dear one, that He sees you. The enemy wants you to focus on the disappointments in your life, which would control how you think about yourself and your past; however, we are invited as believers to focus on the redemptive thoughts He has about us. He shows us how to deal with the hurts and how to position ourselves so that we can see Him amid the desert situations and believe He hears us amid the noise.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” Psalm 27:1

Through the night of doubt and sorrow
Onward goes the pilgrim band,
Singing songs of expectation,
Marching to the promised land.
Clear before us through the darkness
Gleams and burns the guiding light;
Brother clasps the hand of brother,
Stepping fearless through the night.
~Bernard S. Ingemann 

“A soul that is patient waits with calm endurance for light before acting,
and in virtue of this calm and patient endurance suffers no pain or anxiety,
because the soul possesses herself and waits for light;
and when the mind waits patiently for light, sooner or later it is sure to come…
patient souls…are encircled with His fatherly providence…”
William Bernard Ullathorne (Joy & Strength, p.294)

“Listen for the whispers and look in the shadows.”

Herman Apps