The God Who Sees
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Timothy Keller in his book The Meaning of Marriage said, “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”
To be completely known and loved unconditionally - that is the desire of every heart.
11 The angel of the Lord said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.
12 “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”
14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
Transitional Sentence: God designed each of us to desire His gaze, the gaze of the One who knows us completely and loves us unconditionally.
The Story:
a. Background: Genesis Chapter 16
Elderly with no children. We are talking somewhere around 85 for Abram.
Sarai gave Hagar the Egyptian hand maid to Abram as a wife. She conceived.
Strife and turmoil. Now Hagar despises Sarai because of it…
The strife between Hagar and Sarai becomes strife between Sarai and Abram. Abram’s fix was to tell Sarai to do whatever she wanted with Hagar. Sarai, being the loving and compassionate woman she was, treated Hagar harshly. Because that’s what jealousy does.
So what happens - Hagar runs. She isn’t loved, she isn’t seen, and she isn’t cared for. Oh, and did I mention she is pregnant. What a mess.
And then comes The Angel of the Lord. He gives her some encouragement and He tells her what will happen in the future. But He also tells her to go back and deal with the situation. Submit to Sarai. Things will change.
Does this sound familiar to any of you? Does it bring back memories from the past? Memories that you would rather leave buried in the past.
So who is this Hagar?
b. She is the Egyptian maid (chapter 13 of Genesis) for Sarai. Used as a surrogate mother. She was just a possession used to fulfill a worldly plan. A plan to provide an heir for Abram. Unloved by Sarai and Abram. The worldly plan seems to have created a lot of strife in the family.
Can you imagine being given to the husband of your boss to be used for the purpose of providing a child? This Hagar might be very young - mid 20’s. Abram is about 85, this isn’t going to be a husband and wife situation. She is going to be used just to produce a child.
c. Think about her situation for a moment. What do you think Hagar wants?
Can you relate?
Have you ever heard the saying - “To be seen is to be loved.” This suggests that genuine love and connection stem from being fully recognized and understood for who you are , not just for superficial qualities or roles. It implies that being truly seen means having your thoughts, feelings and experiences acknowledged and valued.
Hagar, like all of us, wants someone to care about her. She wanted to be treated with some respect and dignity. Someone who will care about her for more than just a way to have a baby or take care of their daily needs.
d. How about you? Have you dealt with a situation like Hagar? Have you been used by others and then tossed away, or maybe you ran away like Hagar? Maybe you were a punching bag for an abusive parent? The victim of inappropriate sexual behavior? Did you wonder why you were being treated this way? The world is a messed up place, and where is God in all of this while these things are going on?
He’s here. He’s watching
2. To be Seen
a. So, what does it mean to be seen? To be known completely and loved unconditionally. (Avatar)
How many of you know someone completely? There’s nothing new to learn about your spouse, child, mother, father, sister, brother or a friend. You probably don’t know anyone that well and no one knows you that well. Because most of us have a secret or two. If our heart is a home we all have a junk drawer or some of us may have so many secrets that we need a junk closet. A place to store away the shame and guilt that we don’t want others to see in our lives. The old dry bones of sexual immorality, an addiction, a theft problem , murder, or just plain old lying. All of the sins that are left un-confessed in our lives. We don’t want them seen and known so we tuck them away in the junk drawer. A safe place where others can’t find out about them. Keeping it hidden will keep this stuff from driving others away. They won’t like me or want to know me if they know all of the truth. So we only let enough bad stuff out to kind of be known. That way we are still safe. That way others will still love us.
But if we really trusted and set aside our fear we could open the junk drawer and let it all out. Trust that others will still love us. They will still care about us and keep our best interest at heart. This is what it means to be seen. No secrets, no fear, only love, unconditional and complete.
It’s hard to see inside others and to allow them to see inside us. To much experience with pain, suffering, and a lack of trust because of the scars we have from the past. But this isn’t so with God. He knows everything about us. The good, the bad and the ugly. Yet He still loves each one of us unconditionally.
b. He knows everything about us and yet He loves us.
29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
He knows everything, including our struggles and our deepest needs. He is present and active in the details of each and every situation in our lives. He has an intimate knowledge of what is happening in our lives.
Not distant and unaware.
He is actively working in our lives. There is a personal connection between God and each one of His children.
c. Do you find this helpful? Is this comforting to you? Knowing this should provide comfort - there is someone who sees me. Reassurance during times of trouble.
Part of Tim Keller’s quote says - “Being fully known and truly loved is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”
Liberation from pretense allows us to be open and honest. We can allow ourselves to be seen. Humility from our self-righteousness allows us to mess up, we don’t have to be perfect. And fortification from what life throws at us gives us strength for another day.
Some of you may have or have had people in your lives that see and know you in this way. It’s comforting to know that there is someone who knows everything and anything that you have done but they love you anyway. They know all the mistakes you’ve made and they know all the good things you’ve done. And they still love you. They still care about you and want the best for you. This is God’s agape love. Unconditional and complete.
It’s the love that is supposed to happen between husbands and wives, mothers and fathers and their children, siblings and friends that want the best for each other. But like Tim Keller said to be known and unloved is scary. For someone to know you that well but may want to do you harm. Not good.
But this is the God who sees. He knows everything about us and He still loves us. He still watches over us. He still cares for us. Even though He knows us that well.
3. So what do we do about it? Hagar was alone, Hagar was used and tossed aside, Hagar was caught in an awful situation. Even so, the Angel of the Lord told her to go back and submit. Go back and deal with it. Go back and know that God sees you. God sees you knows what you are going through and good will come of it.
a. How about you? Are you stuck in a bad situation? God knows you, God sees you.
God knows all that is in your heart. You can’t hold anything back from Him. He knows all that you are going through and all that you have done and He loves you just the same. But maybe knowing that God sees you isn’t enough.
Maybe you need to know that someone else sees you too. But the only way to be seen by someone else is to open up to someone else. James 5:16
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
Empty your junk drawer. Cleaning out your junk drawer is a scary business. It’s scary because mostly the things we have hidden in that drawer are the things we are ashamed of or that we know are wrong. In other words our sins. Opening up or confessing our sins to someone else allows that person the opportunity to judge us or think harshly of us. No one wants to be judged. So we hold back. We keep secrets. We don’t let others see the deepest parts of who we are. We don’t let anyone in.
It’s contradictory to what we really want. We want to be seen but we don’t let anyone see. It’s a matter of safety. A matter of safe guarding the heart. Is there anyone here who hasn’t been hurt by someone? You opened up and trusted someone and that person cut and ran. Or maybe that person spread your heart out on the gossip vine for everyone to know. Pain, humiliation - don’t let it ever happen again. Never allow anyone to see inside again. Shut them out, no more scars.
Don’t do it. Don’t shut everyone out. And don’t try to shut God out. He knows, He sees. Knowing that He sees you, can let you help others by introducing them to Jesus. When you know someone is hurting and needs to be seen but they won’t let you see them then help them know that God sees them.
b. In other words share the joy of being seen. When we help others know Jesus we share true joy. Lost and hurting people don’t feel joy. They feel the pain of the situation they are in and the pain of the past that never goes away. But the One who sees them can comfort them in their pain and give them the gift of joy. When we can see others in their pain we can help them see that Jesus sees them in their pain. When they accept that Jesus sees them in their pain they can accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. That’s when the Holy Spirit takes over and starts giving out gifts. One of them is joy. So feel the joy of being seen and share the joy of being seen.
And because you are full of joy lift up your voice in praise and thanksgiving to the One who sees you.
c. In other words thank God for seeing you!
If being seen, fully known and loved unconditionally is one of the greatest desires of most people then it should be one of the things that we thank God for. But how often do we do it? It’s easy to thank Him for all the stuff that is obvious in our lives. But how often do we really thank Him for constantly being with us, knowing us intimately and seeing us just as we are? Remember, these can be the scary things about God, even though we want to be seen and known by someone do we really want it to be Him? I want to hide my sin, but He knows it anyway.
Since He knows it, it is comforting to know that He is there. It’s comforting to know that I can go to Him with my issues and know that He will accept me anyway. There is peace in knowing that God is with me. I don’t have to live this life all on my own. The pain, the scars, the ugliness of this life, He has redeemed it all for good.
Exit: God saw Hagar, the broken, hurting, unloved and pregnant girl that needed to know someone cared. Someone did care and He saw her. He lifted her up, encouraged her and set her back on her feet.
He sees you too. He sees you in your brokenness, loneliness, fear and pain. He can encourage you and give you strength to carry on another day. To move forward when life is throwing difficulties at you from every direction.
And while He is helping you with your difficulties; He can help you help others by telling them about the God who sees. El Roi.
