In Jeremiah chapter 16, verse 17, God said, “For I see all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their sin is not hidden from My eyes.”

I’m recording this on Sunday night. Today after church, we had another one of our big family get togethers here at my home. During the summer months, we do this every five or six weeks. Since the family is so large, we celebrate the birthdays and enjoy food and the swimming pool. The reason I’m telling you this is that one of the family members that was here today was my brother-in-law, Steve O’Brien. Many of you probably know that he’s the pastor of LifeSpring Assembly of God, where I was the tech guy for close to twenty years.

One of the great things about having a brother-in-law who is a pastor is the really great conversations we have about spiritual things. Our talks are always wide-ranging, and today was no different. At one point he brought up Hagar from Genesis. You remember Hagar. She was Sarai’s Egyptian slave, and when Sarai didn’t get pregnant, Sarai told Abram to lay with Hagar so that the Lord’s promise would be fulfilled through her. Yeah, that was a bad plan, but that’s not the point we’re looking at today.

So Hagar did get pregnant, and when she did, she took a snotty attitude with Sarai. So Sarai mistreated Hagar, and Hagar ran away. And then an angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert. And the angel asked her where she was from and where she was going. Hagar told him that she was running away from Sarai, and the angel told her to go back to her and submit to her. And he told Hagar that she would have so many descendants that they could not be counted.

And Hagar called the Lord “the God who sees me”.

So in Jeremiah God said, “For I see all their ways” and Hagar called Him “the God who sees me.”

Yes, God sees the sins we do, but He also sees us when we are in distress. He sees us because He is a God who deeply loves us and watches over us like a shepherd watches his sheep or a doting parent watches their child. We do not serve a God who is disconnected from His creation. Our God knows what we need before we do. He cares. He loves.

Your thoughts?