We all have questions for God. But what about the questions God has for us?

For example, in Genesis 3, God asks, "Where are you?" and  "What have you done?" Let us sit with God in the searching questions. As we journey through Lent, let us make space for the Holy Spirit to lead us into deeper places of formation as we sit with these questions together.


Listen to this week's message on Genesis 16:1-15.


The God who sees me. God saw Hagar. The God of the vulnerable and the pushed aside. God sees her. And through his messenger, an angel, God asks, “Where have you come from? Where are you going?”

These are searching questions that lead us deeper into our own story and pain. 

“The angel of the Lord finds Hagar here in this unexpected place and asks her the best questions any friend, spouse, therapist, or pastor could ever ask someone about their life: Where do you come from? Where are you going? The voice of God is curious, and the ears of God incline to hear her trauma. The angel of the Lord directs Hagar to return to Sarai—which, I hasten to add, is in no way a biblical mandate to return to a relationship of abuse or trauma—and promises to bless her with a son and with descendants who will be too numerous to count. Hagar is so moved by this encounter and blessing that she is compelled to say, “El Roi,” meaning “the God who sees me.” This is remarkable. It is a stranger, a foreigner, who is the first person to name God in the Scriptures. Although her knowledge of Yahweh is exceedingly limited, Hagar recognizes that this God is concerned with her trauma and will move with compassion toward her.”- Jay Stringer