All Seeing, All Hearing

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. Genesis 21:19

This verse is part of the incredible story of Hagar and her son, Ishmael. Hagar was acquired by Abram during his stay in Egypt and was given to Sarai as a maidservant. Then, through circumstances that she did not devise, she found herself cast into the wilderness, while pregnant with Abram’s child. It was in this desperate state that she first encountered the Lord in a personal way – the one she called El Roi: The God who sees me. The Lord told her that she would have a son and that she was to name him, Ishmael: God hears.

Hagar returned to Sarai, as the Lord instructed, but 14 years later she found herself back in the wilderness with her son. They had walked far enough for the water skin to be empty, but with no well in sight. Although the sun was shining bright, Hagar’s world had grown very dark and the light of her son’s life was about to go out. She set Ishmael down in the shade of a bush and both of them cried. Then, from out of heaven she hears a familiar voice:

“What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy…” Genesis 21:17

El Roi – The God who sees me. Ishmael – God hears. An Egyptian slave and her son, seen and heard by God. When Hagar lifted her eyes, she saw a well and experienced the provision of God.

The psalmist David asked the Lord, ‘Where can I go from your presence?’ The answer – nowhere. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. This is amazing news for us, that we are continually surrounded by the presence of the One who sees us at all times and who hears us at all times. Like Hagar, there may be times that we find ourselves in the wilderness – a place where we feel alone, neglected, betrayed or abandoned. All we can see is a desert of lost hope. What God can see is someone whom He truly loves, in a place of possibilities. Never doubt that God sees you, hears you, and has made a way through for you.

God has made provision for every circumstance; we just need to lift our eyes and look to him.