Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start.

A new day to return to the place that you’ve been fleeing from.

You can do the hard things that you’ve been called to do. You can move ahead to the very places that have you trembling. You can be assured that if God has called you to it, He will equip and provide what is needed for each step.

Are you weary, He sees you.

Are you lonely, He sees you.

Are you restless, He sees you.

Are you frustrated, He sees you.

Are you feeling ashamed, He sees you.

Are you scared, hurt, or lost, He sees you.

Are you unsure, He sees you.

Are you feeling doubtful that this is truly His call, He sees you.

Are you feeling frozen in place, shackled in fear, afraid to make a decision, He sees you.

Whatever your current situation, you have not been forgotten or slipped by God unnoticed.

His eyes are on you. He is working things out in ways that you never saw coming. He is going to shift tides in your life, remove barriers, prune what needs to be prune, and as you abide in Him, you will bear much fruit.

He sees every injustice in the earth. He sees every single wrongdoing that has been assaulted against you.

He sees how hard you work. He sees the toil and the sweat. He sees the long days caring for your children or working at your job with excellence or even both. He sees the way you put your all into each assignment set before you. He sees how you care for each person near you. He knows the burden feels heavy. He also has His eyes on you. He celebrates your success. He cheers for you as you rise each morning despite all that tries to keep you in bed. He smiles with pride as you lovingly care for your babies whether you are raising literal babies or your children are all grown. He sees how you care for them with all you’ve got. And He even lovingly sings over you with songs of a loving Papa to their child.

Hagar was a servant girl. Her needs and desires dismissed, and she was to meet the every need of her mistress Sarai. She was Sarai’s mistress for a long time, so I am inferring that she did her job well. Maybe they were even friends. Maybe Sarai even passed her plan by Hagar before she posed it to Abraham. The scriptures don’t share whether or not Hagar wanted to bear Abraham’s child. Maybe she was so close to Sarah and she saw her pain and was more than willing. Maybe she was scared and afraid of Sarai’s plan. But nonetheless, she obliged and she allowed even her body to be given in servitude to her mistress in order to bear her a son because in Sarai’s eyes, “God was taking too long.” And to be fair to Sarai, she was very old and it was taking a long time. But if it was God’s timing then, the timing was perfect.

So Hagar conceives a child with Abraham, and the relationship between Sarai and Hagar turns sour. Hagar now carrying Abraham’s child has changed her attitude toward Sarai, and Sarai has begun to treat her harshly. It all becomes too much weight to bear. It’s too heavy. This was supposed to be different. Sarai maybe even made certain promises to Hagar prior to her conceiving. Hagar maybe trusted Sarai and now everything is different and nothing like she envisioned. It hurts deeply and there seems to be no solution in sight, so she flees from her home. She runs away from every problem that seems way too much to bear. As she sits down to rest in the wilderness, she is surely feeling a wide range of emotions. Then, as all seems hopeless, and as all seems bleak and dark, and as she feels forgotten and even discarded by those closest to her, God shows up.

He comforts her and gives her instruction and He even blesses her.

She calls Him: The God who sees me.

She was NOT forgotten or forsaken or left in her mess. She was picked up, encouraged, spoken to with love and kindness, and sent back to Abraham and Sarai encouraged and feeling seen and heard by the Lord Himself!

The Lord has NOT forgotten you. He sees you. He cares about the very struggle you face today. He will not leave you. He may ask you to be still in your current assignment like He did for Hagar. She was meant to raise her child in the home of Abraham at least for the beginning of his life. Later, her and her son Ismael get sent away and they go free.

But in this season at this time, God instructs her to be still and go back to Sarai and Abraham. That was her family, her protection. The culture was very different than ours and when God sent her back to Abraham, it would have been for her protection and her provision. But even though God is giving her challenging directions, He is with her. He is speaking with her. He is encouraging her. He sees her and He wants her to know she is not forgotten. He still has blessing for her and her child.

The well where Hagar sat and spoke with the Lord was named Beer Lahai Roi.

And from this visitation by God to Hagar we get this beautiful name of God: El Roi. He is God who sees. And He sees you today.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your Presence and the promise that You are always with us. You never leave us, never forsake us. You see us and You strengthen us even in the most difficult seasons.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.