God Sees

she looked with contempt on her mistress

, and then Sarai gets upset. And we see in verse six that she takes it out on Hagar by dealing with her harshly, so harshly that Hagar flees into the wilderness, running from this weird triangle of sin between her, Sarai, and Abram. But then we see in verses seven to 12 that God reveals himself to Hagar as a God who cares for her and looks after her personally in the midst of this hurtful and lonely circumstance. And that brings us to Hagar's words here in verse 13, where she says to God,

you are a God of seeing. Truly here, I have seen him who looks after me.

And so for those of us here who might be in a bit of a rut ourselves, Whether we too are hurt by the harshness of another, fearful of our circumstances, or if we are feeling just a bit alone and unseen, the one thing I hope you take away from our text tonight is a simple encouragement to fear no evil, for God sees you and looks after you. Fear no evil, for God sees you and looks after you. We'll kind of hang that idea on two attributes of God that we see in Hagar's words, and the first is God's omniscience. When we see this in the name Hagar gives to God, she calls the Lord El Roy, which is what translates to the God of seeing, and I think this is an apt description of how God reveals himself to her in the context. God puts his omniscience on display. Verse 7 says,

the angel of the Lord finds her in the wilderness

, and he shows her that he knows all about her. He knows her name, what she does, whose servant she is. And perhaps Hagar has a bit of a bulge from the baby. But verse 11 shows us that God knows Hagar's pregnancy as well. And Hagar actually, in this conversation, never mentions that to the Lord. She merely mentions that she's fleeing from Sarai. And yet, God in his omniscience is able to speak to her affliction with full knowledge of the situation, and thus he says in verse 11,

behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael

, which means God hears,

because the Lord has listened to your affliction.

God shows Hagar that she is completely seen and understood without her self-disclosure, and I think for Hagar that would have been immensely comforting, Try for a moment to put yourself in her shoes. She was rejected and treated harshly by the mistress she bore a child for. Abram, the father of her child, didn't care enough about her to stop Sarai or defend her. And we've already mentioned she's pregnant, which I can only imagine could be scary. She's out in the wilderness and the whole time she's by herself. She'd probably be fearing for her circumstances, her future, not only for her own, but also for her child. I think she'd feel alone, uncertain of what was to come of her life, and a bit invisible. And I'm sure we've all felt that way at some point in our lives as well. I actually think one of the worst feelings anyone can feel while suffering is to feel invisible. I think that feeling's captured in this proverb.

The heart knows its own bitterness and no stranger shares its joy.

That's Proverbs 14, 10. I think. It's often hard to truly communicate your experiences and innermost feelings to someone else in order to be truly understood. And feeling like no one understands you can make you feel a bit invisible. It seems like no one sees you the way you really are on the inside. This is why some of us were emo as teenagers, isn't it? Because no one understands me. But our verse, should remind us that God always understands us because he sees everything. God doesn't lack any perspective on your situation because he's omniscient. He sees you in your strife. He knows how you feel about it, though you might not be able to put it into words. His knowledge of you and your life is not bound by your inability to express your emotions or the complexities of your experiences to him. Know God in his omniscience. is aware even of our groanings that are too deep for words. He knows exactly what you're thinking, how you're feeling, what you're afraid of, and he sees you the way you really are, not the way you present yourself, not the way you think you are. He sees you the way you really are, for he is omniscient. And that should be comforting for us. And what makes his omniscience even more comforting is the fact that in his simplicity, it's coupled with his compassion. And that's, I think, the second attribute that Hagar points us to, God's compassion. She says,

truly here, I have seen him who looks after me.

The God of seeing is a God of omniscient care. And like his omniscience, I think we see his compassion in the context as well. Just look at how God approaches Hagar. He checks in on her in her affliction. He asks her what's going on. In verse eight, he says,

Hagar, where have you come from and where are you going?

To me, that sounds like God in the garden with Adam, doesn't it? Inviting his creature out of shameful hiding, inviting Hagar out of her isolation, and something as simple as that can be. Incredibly assuring whenever we're feeling down, can it? At least in my own experience, I've always felt cared for when people take the time to simply just ask about a difficult situation. You see here that God listens as well. The omniscient God of the universe who knows all about Hagar and her situation gives room for her to express herself to him. And thus her child is named Ishmael because the Lord has listened to Hagar's affliction and that's compassionate too. The most miserable comforters on earth are the ones who think they know everything and they don't listen, they don't let you speak about your own situation, they just talk at you. But God isn't that way. even though God actually knows everything. God is compassionate, and I think we find one way we can imitate him here in the passage. Something as simple as going and checking in on our friends and asking them questions, listening to their answers, inviting them out of isolation. It shows that you're looking after them. It shows the type of compassion that God shows Hagar in this passage. And furthermore, God's compassion is revealed in his words here. God speaks to Hagar. He makes promises to her. He blesses her in verses 10 and 11, and he's not absent in her suffering. He's present. He makes himself visible to her. Hagar says,

truly, I have seen him

and God's presence, and his word are sufficient for Hagar to realize she cared for, and that should be true for us as well. even though the angel of the Lord might not appear to us and speak to us as he did to Hagar. If we are in Christ, God has drawn near to us in an even better way. He is always with us by the indwelling work of God, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and he has spoken promises to us as well. God has left the fullness of his redemptive promises recorded for us in his inerrant and sufficient word. God's word is sufficient to sustain you. in your trials.

This is my comfort in my affliction

, says the psalmist.

That's your promise. Your word gives me life.

And according to his word, God cares for us, not just as pitiful servants like Hagar, but as his very own children. For in Christ, we are adopted as sons, co-heirs with the Son of God, who shares the benefits of his eternal sonship with us and so the omniscient God of the universe becomes our father in heaven who cares for us personally and God's word tells us we can cast all our anxieties upon him knowing that he cares for us listens to us and will act for us we have the privilege of praying to him to offload the burden of our crushing anxieties off of our mortal shoulders into the hands of the omniscient and omnipotent God who has the knowledge and power to actually do something If there is someone who is harsh with us, if there is someone who is abusing us, God will avenge us, if not in time, then in eternity. For there is indeed a day coming where all who have ever bullied God's children will have to stand before him to give an account for their sins. God will one day judge all who have ever lived according to what his all-seeing eye has seen. And that thought should remind us all of our need for the gospel. For under the sun, we're often the victims of the sins of one, but we're also often the perpetrators of pain to another. And God sees that too. He sees all of our faults. He sees right through our various facades. We project of being a good person. He sees the sinful motives of our wicked hearts. He knows the secret bitterness and jealousy we harbor here against our neighbors in the pews as we smile and shake their hands. He knows the filth that we take pleasure in within the confines of our mind's eye under the illusion of secrecy. But the good news is that in Christ, and only in Christ, we who are filthy in the sights of the God of sin can receive full pardon. for our sins if we simply believe in his son. Jesus died for us knowing the full depth and breadth of our sins. In his divinity, in his omniscience, he knew better than you and I how sinful we are, and even still, he went to the cross driven by compassion, and there in his humanity, he dies the death we deserve. Mindful of all of our treasonous crimes against him, And then God's word tells us that Christ rose from the dead, having conquered sin and death and hell if we simply believe in him, we too share in his resurrection, we too are given new life and we are born again into a new family, the family of God. And so in Christ, God's glare of judgment upon a pitiful slave of sin becomes the affectionate gaze of an all-knowing and ever-present father, a father whose eye of omniscience and compassion will look after us until the day we see him face-to-face in glory. And until that day, we will all have to face our own versions of Sarai at some point, such as life under the sun. There will be moments where we might end up in a situation like Hagar, feeling alone, afflicted, unseen, or fearful of our circumstances and future. But as we wrap things up tonight, I hope that we see from Hagar that we should have nothing to fear when we are under the protection of our father's gaze, for in this passage, God commands Hagar to return and submit to Sarai, and Hagar obeys. She returns to face her harsh mistress and submit to her, and just imagine the amount of faith and courage that would have actually taken her. She left for a reason. Sarai must have been insufferable if fleeing out into the woods pregnant and alone seemed like a better living situation. But for Hagar, simply knowing that God sees her and cares for her is enough to strengthen her to obey God in the face of the fear of man. and circumstance, and so we too should never fear these things. Even if we are alone and afflicted, even if we are rejected and neglected by our own household, even then we should fear no evil. For our Father in the heaven is the God of seeing. He sees you, he cares for you, and he is with you. He has not left you as an invisible orphan in your affliction. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the fact that we are never unseen before you. Father, we praise you that you know all things. You know everything about us, how we think, how we feel. You know everything about our situation, about our past, present, future. You are sovereign over all things. We thank you, Father, that you're also a God of compassion. Your all-knowing gaze is not separate from your love for us as your children, and so we take comfort in your omniscient care. Father, help us to trust in you as the God of seeing whatever our circumstances as we suffer under the sun, as we deal with the sins of another, or if we deal with fearful circumstances. Help us to trust you and fear no man or circumstance, but rather entrust our lives into the hands of the God who cares for us and loves us as our very own children. We pray this in Christ's name, amen.