He Sees

Hagar Is Seen

In the book of Genesis chapter 16 there’s an account of Abram's wife Sarai and her maid having a spat about childbearing. Sarai was promised a son for Abram by God but at this point in the story she was closing in on 90 and still childless. In her impatience she arranges for her much younger maid Hagar to have relations with Abraham and Hagar becomes pregnant. Sarai regrets that decision and starts treating Hagar harshly with disdain. In abject despair and fear, Hagar flees into the Mideast desert alone, afraid, pregnant and without hope; until. This is where you and I can get involved in the story because God is all knowing; and sees everything. An angel appears to Hagar, consoles her, tells her she will have a son named Ishmael, and he would be blessed greatly. But first she must return to Sarai and serve her respectfully. Hagar is amazed that “God sees.”

Looking Ahead of Us

In my struggle on this road in retirement with Parkinson’s, I must remind myself often that God looks ahead of me. He knows my flight into the desert. I don’t see them, but I sense there have been angels hovering about me, keeping me on the right path in the wilderness. God sees. He knows the dangers and blessings ahead; and as with dear Hagar, he sends help when needed. 

A couple weeks ago during the protests in Minneapolis we drove five hours to that city for an important neurology appointment early the next morning; and of course, we arrived late in the evening to our hotel. The TV screens were blaring the turmoil and the part-time desk clerk (by night), social worker (by day), was quite distraught and distracted; and of course, she discovered that our handicapped accessible room was not available. We prayed silently, extended what compassion we could muster on this frigid tense late evening and suddenly she says; “Wait minute, let me look at something.” She did have one room, fully accessible and clean on a different floor. God sees. 

Lack of Sight

We often lack sight ourselves and need God's intervention because he sees. After the neurology appointment and not so good news on my degrading condition, we spent a few days with my sister and family in western Wisconsin, looked at some properties in that area and then decided to make a mad dash back to North Dakota across the plains to Grand Forks. Typical of North Dakota in the winter, our hometown was again experiencing snow, gale force winds, and deadly windchills. We figured by 9 PM all would be calming down and kept going as God looked ahead. With about two hours to go in the prairie hills of central-western Minnesota, just before everything gets totally pancake flat, we were driving blind and couldn’t see any road paint, right or left. Thank God he sees. We have been in this situation before and have made other foolish decisions, always saying, “Never again!” But then we go and do it again and have to rely on God’s mercy. 

Lights Ahead

We drove on hoping the wind and squalling snow would clear, but it kept on blizzarding for what seemed an eternity, and eerily, there were no other vehicle lights on either side of the freeway for a few miles. Finally, barely perceptible in the snow fog ahead, we saw white and red lights in our side of the two-lane freeway. As we got closer, we were horrified as we quickly came upon a smashed-up van, lights on, lying dead across our right lane under an overpass that was growing a four-foot drift across both our lanes. The van was literally 30 feet in front of us and we gunned it, veered hard left around it, busting through the drift and just kept going, fearing a stop would result in a rear-end smash from whatever might be coming behind us. 

Taillights from Heaven?

After another mile or three, stressed to our wits end, crying out to God (Chris out loud and me in my head), and still only getting glimpses of the road every few seconds, suddenly, out of nowhere there was a car in front of us with its flashers blinking going about 15 mph. We followed those lights for miles with no other visible road markings until finally we caught glimpse of an exit sign for a town called Fergus Falls. The blinking mystery vehicle kept going but the thought of being in a ditch with -40 windchills was too much so we exited and secured the last room of the closest hotel. God sees. 

Jesus Sees

Chris and I often feel like Parkinson’s is a snowstorm hiding what’s ahead at no fault of our own. It’s comforting for me to know, as Hagar discovered in her own predicament, that God sees me and my plight. Jesus is God and I discovered from the gospels and personal experience that he sees as well. In Luke chapter 7 there was a widow from the city of Nain who had just lost her son. Details are not offered but we enter the story as she is walking with a funeral procession out the city gate while Jesus and an entourage are entering. At the gate, the two parties meet and Jesus locks eyes with “her,” the suffering mom. The bible is clear, he didn’t look at the casket carrying her son, he didn’t look at the wailing grieving funeral procession, no, he saw “her;” the distraught mother. He resurrected the young man. Jesus sees.

Now as He approached the city gate, a dead man was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her and when the Lord saw her, He felt great compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” And He came up and touched the bier, the pallbearers stood still, and He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” The man who was dead sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother (Luke 7:12-14).

It’s Good to be Seen

As I close here, I’d like us to remember that God’s eyes are always upon us, but not necessarily for the purpose of judgment; “oh, lets spy on all the bad things Eileen is doing.” No, it’s part of God’s character to see and understand what we are going through; always encouraging us to acknowledge his presence and seek him. He sees us.

In the words of Hagar:

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees for I have remained alive after seeing Him who sees me with understanding and compassion.”

In the words of Eileen:

Thank you God, it’s good to be seen.