READ: GENESIS 16:1-13; PSALM 139; HEBREWS 13:5

If there was a list of all the people in the Bible who had a reason to feel invisible, Hagar would no doubt be near the top. As Sarai’s Egyptian slave, Hagar likely had no choice but to cooperate when she was suddenly thrown into the middle of a messy plot for Abram to produce offspring through her. You see, God had promised that Abram and Sarai would have many descendants, but after years of waiting, the childless couple got impatient. So, Sarai told Abram to sleep with Hagar, her slave, so they could have a child through her. Even though this was a common practice at the time, God was certainly not okay with it. And, like most plans we make apart from God, things began to go badly. Hagar was mistreated to the point she ran away, leaving Abram, Sarai, and their twisted plan behind. Except, she was already pregnant.

But as she came to a spring in the middle of the wilderness, Hagar was met by the angel of the Lord. The angel instructed her to return, promising that God would greatly multiply her descendants and saying, “the LORD has heard your cry of affliction” (Genesis 16:10-11).

Hagar called the God who spoke to her El Roi, which means: the God who sees me. Hagar’s mistreatment and grief wasn’t over yet. But in the middle of it all, when she no doubt felt invisible in her suffering, God saw her.

Not all of us have been used and mistreated like Hagar was, but at some point we will all reach a wilderness of our own. Living in a sinful world and carrying heavy burdens, it’s easy to feel unseen and forgotten in this life. But we are not unseen. Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). And in Psalm 139, David writes about how God sees each of us and searches the innermost places of our hearts. How wonderful to know that the One who knows us from the inside out, the One who knitted each of us together in the womb, is the same One who walks with us every step of our lives.

In the middle of whatever you’re going through, you are not invisible or alone. The same God who saw Hagar sees you, and He will never forsake you. • Katherine Billingsley

• Have there been times in your life when you’ve felt invisible? How could it be comforting to know that the same God who saw Hagar is the One who sees each of us?

• Throughout Scripture, God sees and cares for those who would normally be looked down upon or outcast. How could you show those around you that they are seen and heard by God?

LORD, you have searched me and known me. Psalm 139:1 (CSB)