Today is the fourth post in the series: 11 Bible Verses to Grow Your Faith in 2017.
In each post, I will introduce one name of God and one Bible verse that will grow your view of God, and in turn grow your faith. If you missed the others, you can find them here and here and here.
How is it that in a world where everything seems visible, we can struggle so much with feeling invisible?
With the rise of the internet and social media, many of us live our lives wide open for the world (or at least our “friends”) to see. We post pictures, and we update our status. We watch each other’s highlight reels play out almost in real time. But with all this posting, does anyone really see? Does anyone really know us at all?
The Name
In Genesis 16, we find Hagar in a heap of trouble on the home-front. Upon Sarai’s request (because she was desperately barren), Hagar slept with Abram (Sarai’s husband), and she conceived. As soon as Hagar knew she was pregnant with Abram’s child, her attitude changed, and she looked down on Sarai. In turn, Sarai mistreated Hagar. Hagar, then, fled to the desert.
Imagine how Hagar felt as she kicked her way through the dirt, away from the security of this place she called home. Imagine her pain, rejection and fear. Talk about invisible! Who would notice her, take care of her, and protect her now?
The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert. Genesis 16:7
God found Hagar – fleeing in the desert – running from her problems – wandering and lost. After a brief conversation with the LORD, Hagar exclaimed, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)
Hagar encountered God and experienced Him as El Roi, the God who sees.
The Verse
In her brief meeting with the Lord in the desert, Hagar knew that she was seen by God. Yet the seeing she experienced wasn’t a passive viewing. God wasn’t idly standing by, watching her life play out on a giant movie screen. He was paying attention, intimately involved, and actively engaged in the story of her life.
Is this how you view our ever-seeing God?
Before I say more, let me share our memory verse for the month:
When you read this verse, what immediately comes to mind?
Most of the time when I think about the fact that nothing is hidden from God’s sight, I think about my sin. I’m keenly aware of God’s ability to see the grit and grime that seeps into the cracks and crevices of my soul. I know He sees right through my masks, behind the walls, and in every dark corner I hide. It’s all uncovered, laid bare before His eyes.
But there’s so much more to God’s seeing than this.
When God sees us, He’s not watching us to keep record of all our rights and wrongs. He’s watching because of His deep, abiding affection for us. Don’t you realize? God literally can’t take His eyes off you!
God sees every time your face lights up in new discovery. He sees your heart still flutter when someone tells you that you look pretty. He sees the joy and pride swell up in you when the ones you love succeed and all the ways you put their needs before your own. God sees all the quiet ways you work – all the mundane things you do. He sees how your heart gets broken – sees how you brush away tears – how you hide behind your fake “fine”. He sees every dream, every longing, every need, every victory, every frustration, every disappointment.
No one sees – no one knows – like our God does.
“Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
It’s easy to recognize the accountability of God’s seeing. There will come a day when we will be held accountable for how we steward this one life we live. But can you also see the beautiful vulnerability, safety, and freedom of His seeing?
If we know that God sees everything (He does!), and still loves us perfectly (He does!), then surely this is a God we can entrust our entire lives to.
The Challenge
#1: MEMORIZE THE VERSE.
Again, I have memory verse cards and a cell phone lock screen for you to download. Keep this verse in front of you. Practice it until it’s written on your heart.
You can download the memory verse cards here and the cell phone wallpaper here.
#2: LEAN INTO THE ONE WHO SEES YOU.
When I hug my husband, I lean my full weight onto him. Sometimes, just to tease me, he’ll sway to the right or left to test my lean – to see how much I really trust him. To date, he has never let me fall.
That’s a picture of the kind of lean I’m talking about when I say “lean into the One who sees you”.
Friend, God sees you, even when you think no one’s watching. He sees you, even when you feel unnoticed. God sees you, even when you think you’re hiding.
You’re safe under his gaze. Lean in and believe.
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