Have you ever wondered during times of pain, sorrow or hardship if God sees your situation or cares? I think most of us would say that we have had times like that.

You may remember the account in the Old Testament where God promised to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son. God had promised but nothing had happened so Sarai decided to help God out and gave her maidservant Hagar to Abraham hoping that she would conceive and give them a child. But when she became pregnant by Abraham she despised her mistress and Sarah badly mistreated her. Eventually she could not take it any longer and fled into the desert. 

Think of the hopelessness of Hagar’s heart. She had nowhere to go. She had been forced into a pregnancy by a man not her husband. Sarah had mistreated her. She was without help, without friends and without hope.

Except….we read in Genesis 16 that the “angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert” and he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarah, where have you come from and where are you going? I’m running away from my mistress Sarah, she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’ The angel added, ‘I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.”

The angel of the Lord also said to her: ‘You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your misery.’”

What a word of blessing that the God of the universe has heard her misery…and cared about her predicament and would bless her. In fact, Hagar “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.’”

Here is what I want you to know today. No matter your sorrow, pain, situation or struggle: God sees you. He sees you! If you know God, you know that One who sees you. No one else may see your pain but He does. No one else may be able to help but He can. The Lord hears our pain, sees our predicaments and sees what no one else may see. He sees us!

As you walk through your day today remember that the sovereign God of the universe sees you. He hears the pain of your heart and knows the desires of your heart. No one sees you better than He does. No one understands you better than He does. That is a great comfort in times of difficulty.

Father, I thank you today that you see me and know me fully. Thank you that you desire to bless me and enter into my situation. I pray today that you would bless me as you did Hagar for I know the One who sees me. Amen.