You Are the God Who Sees
Godly patience is a character quality that sustains us—a virtue. However, many of us grow impatient when waiting upon God for a promise to be fulfilled. In the delay we can become discouraged if the season is long.
In the book of Proverbs, we read,
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Prov. 13:12 NKJV
Only hope anchored firmly in God and His promises can avoid discouragement during seasons of delay.
I want to share a story that illustrates that though God’s promises are delayed, we can fully trust Him for their fulfillment. The story also implies that we should not try to fulfill God’s promises in our effort and strength. Finally, the story demonstrates that God sees and cares deeply about our situations and future during our moments of greatest need.
The story I’m writing about is found in Genesis 16, with Abram, Sarai, Hagar, and Ishmael:
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go into my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. 3 Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. 4 So he went into Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me.”
6 So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
7 Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” 10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her:
“Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (NKJV)
Ten years earlier, Abram believed in God for a son. Now, he is 85, and Sarai is 75. Their faith and hope weaken in God’s promise of a son and to have many descendants. Here is a little more background before unpacking our Genesis 16 story.
In Genesis 12, God told Abram to leave his country, family, and father’s house for a land God would show him.
God promised to make Abram a great nation and to bless all the families of the earth through him. Years went by, and Abram and Sarai were childless.
How would all the families of the earth be blessed? Through the seed and spiritual offspring of Abram, Paul wrote,
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Gal. 3:29 NKJV
Paul elaborates in Gal. 3:15-18 that the promise was not to all the descendants of Abraham, but the promise was fulfilled in Christ and to those who are united with Jesus through faith.
Abram means exalted father. God would later rename Abram to Abraham, meaning father of a multitude.
In Genesis 15, God reaffirms His promises to Abram and establishes what is known as the Abrahamic covenant with him (the Abrahamic Covenant is the OT model for the New Covenant in Jesus Christ).
Abram believed God and His promise of a son and descendants,
And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Gen. 15:6 NLT
Paul twice quotes this, Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6, and once in Jam. 2:23. It is the basis for the NT teaching that God’s way has always been by faith, as we obediently trust His word, which causes right living.
However, ten years elapse, and no child is born.
Abram and Sarai, weakened in faith, devise a plan (Gen. 16:1-4), which Paul describes as of the flesh,
His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. Gal. 4:23 NIV
God’s promises are yes and amen if we have the faith and patience to wait upon them. The struggle for most of us is delay.
Delays can occur for many reasons.
Sometimes, it’s our unbelief, and we wander around another mountain instead of possessing what God has promised and given. Delay can also occur because of an unrenewed mind or strongholds in the mind.
Another reason for the delay is rebellion against God, His word, and promises. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep my commands!”
But, as with Abram and Sarai, there is also God’s delay. When God causes the delay, faith and patience are needed to inherit His promises (Heb. 6:12).
God allows tension between His promises and their fulfillment. God’s promises and prophecies about our lives are often delayed and sometimes unfold over many years. It would be another 14 years before Abram and Sarai would have their own child, Isaac, the son of Promise (see Genesis 17-18).
But like Abram and Sarah, many try to bring about the prophetic promise in the flesh when a divine delay occurs. There is a timing that only God can orchestrate. Like a symphony conductor, God knows precisely when every instrument, every piece of music, must be played in your life.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Gen. 18:14 NKJV
When God’s delay occurs, continue patiently in the Spirit, waiting upon the Lord to fulfill the promise.
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Gal. 6:9 NKJV
I’ve had seasons in my life when frustration gripped me. Tension occurred between the prophecy and the fulfillment of what was promised. Sadly, like Abram and Sarai, decisions were made not of the Spirit or in God’s timing—the result was more pain, heartache, and frustration. God is God—we are not! He only knows the timing of your life—trust Him.
Hagar conceives, and Sarai becomes angry with her.
Imagine Hagar’s pain. She is forced to have a child with Abram, knowing that by cultural standards, the child would belong to her mistress, Sarai. She has been taken advantage of and wronged, and she despises Sarai.
Sarai blames Abram for her maid’s attitude and condemns him for the situation! We tend to become frustrated and angry when we operate from human reasoning instead of the Holy Spirit’s leading. Left unrepented, we tend to direct this toward others and begin to blame shift.
Operating from condemnation, Abram yields to more human reasoning: “Well, just send her away then!” Remember what Paul said in Romans,
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Rom. 8:1-2 NKJV
Your new life in Jesus empowers you to live in the superior law of the Spirit—above your flesh, your past, and the legalism of religion apart from true faith in Christ.
Paul describes the birth of Ishmael as according to the flesh and the birth of Isaac as according to promise, and he states they are symbolic and represent the law and the new covenant in Christ (Gal. 4:21-31), where we are free from the bondage of legalistic religion. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17)!
Hagar Flees from Sarai
In Gen. 16:6-7 we read that an angel appears to Hagar and tells her to return and submit herself to her mistress. God has a plan. If there are unsafe situations, we need to remove ourselves from those situations and place healthy boundaries around us or our family.
But, at times, as with Hagar, God directs us to remain connected to others, as complex and challenging as it may be, for His greater purposes.
Sometimes, we flee connection and family because of the works of the flesh! It may be our wrong actions or the actions of others—real or perceived. I am not making light of abusive situations; I am just pointing out that sometimes we run from the very place God is using to bring us into destiny.
Hagar, in a place of hopelessness and despair, encounters the Father, who gives her hope and speaks of her future.
I believe she is in a “Dark Night of the Soul.” Sixteenth-century Spanish Catholic priest, John of the Cross, referred to this as a transition period during which confusion and hopelessness can occur. It is a time when a person can doubt God’s promises or that God is near. During these seasons, God often leads us into spiritual awakening, where we understand ourselves and the world around us more.
The angel prophesies to Hagar about her son Ishmael (Gen. 16:10-12). The descendants of Ishmael roamed about the desert, often in conflict with others. Modern-day Arabs claim descent from Abraham and his son Ishmael; his brethren are the Jewish people. Keep in mind that God loves all people, Jews, Arabs, and every race!
Ishmael means, “God hears!” In other words, God declared through the child’s name that God heard Hagar’s cry and would listen to our voice, too.
By the way, every child has purpose and meaning. You are loved and valued by God, as is all of humanity! God desires all men to be saved and know how much He loves and cares for them.
Hagar’s response, “…You Are the God Who Sees…” Gen. 16:13
This is the Hebrew name of God, El Roi. This is the first occurrence of this covenant name for God in scripture, and it occurs in a moment of despair and hopelessness by someone despised, rejected, and in the margins of society.
The message is clear: God hears and sees us in every difficult circumstance, and we can trust Him.
God declares, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer. 29:11 NKJV)
Sometimes, we are weary because of God’s delay, like Abram and Sarai, or maybe we suffer because of others’ actions, like Hagar, but God sees and knows His plans and purposes for us!
Sometimes, our most significant encounters with God happen at our place of despair. During life’s difficulties and challenges, God will often suddenly appear to us when we least expect it. Be confident that God hears and sees—always!
Hagar returns and gives birth to a son. As the angel instructed, Abram honors Hagar by calling the child Ishmael.
Hagar must have told Abram what had happened, for Abram honors what the angel of the Lord instructed Hagar by naming the boy Ishmael. And in so doing, Abram affirms this child as his adopted son and heir to his family.
This is precisely what Jesus has done for us! When we were without hope, God sent His son Jesus to bring us into adoption and God’s family. Paul wrote in Galatians of this adoption,
6 Because you are sons and daughters, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son or daughter, and if you are his child, then you are also an heir through God. Gal. 4:6-7 CEB
Abram, representative of the Father, affirms Hagar and Ishmael. The world is looking for love, acceptance, and validation. As His representatives, we can bring others the Father’s love and the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Final Thoughts
God hears your prayer and sees your situation. Don’t lose faith in what He has promised you. God will bring it to pass in His perfect timing.
Continue to walk with Jesus faithfully by obeying God’s Word and following the Spirit. Don’t yield to the flesh or human reasoning. If you have, repent (change your thinking about the matter), ask God to forgive you, and ask Him to restore faith in the promises He has made over your life!
Know that God will answer your prayer—He hears and sees your needs and the promises over your life!
For those reading who are in a difficult place, perhaps you have metaphorically fled to the wilderness because of the hardships of life. God wants to minister to you today!
Like Hagar, remember you may encounter God’s love, presence, and power at your lowest moment when you least expect Him to break in! Call out to Him today!
