Look Up

Psalm 139:1-3 – O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I'm far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. (NLT)

When I was very young, I would feel threatened when meeting new people or being in a new situation, so I would resort to an escape technique. Elbow up, I would put my whole arm in front of my face. Under the cover of my arm, I could hide; no one could see me — so I thought.

Hagar, Sarai's servant, resorted to a different escape technique. Pregnant with Abram's child, she scorned and mocked Sarai, whose idea it was to have a child through her servant. Sarai retaliated by treating Hagar so harshly that she ran away from her mistress. In the wilderness, the Lord knew all about her predicament, and advised her to return to her mistress and submit to her.

Genesis 16:13 – Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, "You are the God who sees me." [in Hebrew El-roi] She also said, "Have I truly seen the One who sees me?" (NLT)

Just as the people surrounding me really could see me when I hid under my arm, so the Lord saw Hagar when she thought that she was alone in her trouble.

Later, God changed Sarai's name to Sarah, and Abram's name to Abraham, reflecting the covenant that God had made with him.

Although God is always watching over us, we often fail to see Him working in our lives. At the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) base in Belize in the fall of 2016, one of my assigned tasks was baking, a challenge in a tropical climate. I had made several recipes with the wrong kind of shortening, and the cookies spread all over the baking sheet. One day, as I again perused the shelves of the store room, my eye landed on a can of Crisco®, a vegetable-based lard substitute that stays solid at room temperature. It had been there the whole time! Crisco is not an ingredient that I had ever baked with, but when I tried it, the results were fantastic! Blinded by my inadequacies, I hadn't seen God's provision.

Hagar's story shows that she didn't see God's provision, either. The troublesome relationship between Hagar and Sarah returned after God gave Sarah and Abraham a son in their old age. Under pressure from Sarah, Abraham regretfully sent away Hagar and her son, Ishmael. Again, she wandered in the desert. When her water was gone, Hagar resigned herself to her son's death. Blinded by her tears, she saw no way out of her plight. Again, the Lord was watching over her. He opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. This moment was a turning point for her and Ishmael. He didn't die, but grew up to be a skilled archer in the wilderness, and his descendants became a great nation.

El-roi always sees us and knows our needs; we just need to look up and see His provision.

Prayer: El-roi, the God Who sees us, may we open our eyes and look up to see Your work on our behalf. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

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