Two weeks ago, I lost a diamond from my wedding ring in my house. Judah and I searched for it, but we had no luck. I kept my eyes peeled for nearly a week, hoping it might turn up somewhere around the house.
During that time, I kept finding little fake diamonds from Zz’s mermaid dress, which I had recently washed. They had fallen off and were scattered all around the house. It was very disheartening every time I picked one up, thinking it might be my diamond.
One evening during dinner cleanup, I was throwing something into the compost bin when I noticed a sparkle. I picked it up and exclaimed to Judah, “It’s so frustrating to keep finding these little fake diamonds from Zz’s dress!” But as I said it, I turned it over and realized it might actually be my diamond.
We stared at it for a long time—under a flashlight, then a magnifying glass—and finally decided it looked like the real deal. The next day, a local jeweler confirmed it was my diamond.
Just like that little lost diamond hidden between the things discarded was a woman who felt lost: Hagar.
The God Who Sees
Zz, our 6-year-old, loves listening to Bible stories and podcasts. Recently, on the way to school, we listened to the story of Hagar—a woman whose details I had forgotten, but whom God clearly did not!
She was the first person in the Bible visited by an angel and the only person in the Bible who gave God a name (El-roi).
Here’s a brief synopsis I found from Genesis 16.
Sarai, growing impatient while waiting for God's promise of a child, gives her Egyptian servant Hagar to Abram in hopes of building a family through her.
When Hagar becomes pregnant, she begins to look down on Sarai, which leads to conflict. Sarai blames Abram and treats Hagar so harshly that Hagar flees into the wilderness, pregnant and alone.
There, by a spring in the desert, the angel of the Lord appears to her. He tells her to return to Sarai and submit — not as punishment, but with a promise: that God has seen her misery and she will give birth to a son named Ishmael, which means “God hears.”
The angel also gives a prophecy about her son’s future. Overwhelmed by the encounter, Hagar gives God a name — El-roi, “the God who sees me.”
She becomes the first person in Scripture to name God.
Hagar worships and returns, holding onto the promise that she is not unseen, not forgotten.
I can’t even imagine what it would feel like to be Hagar - probably she felt so lost in her situation and feeling like she was amongst the discarded.
But, look at how everything changes with just one touch from heaven.
The angel appears to her, encourages her, and gives her hope. She responds in utter worship, adorning God with a new name, El-roi, “the God who sees me”!
Full of worship, she surrenders to the fruit that can be born out of her hardship and receives the promise of a son and the lineage that would be born through her.
Hagar is a woman remembered for her worship and her surrender—found by the God who sees.
This story reminds me that God sees me, and if He sees me, He sees you too. And if He sees us, He sees the beggar, the prostitute, the sinner, the lonely, the weak, the rich, and the poor. He sees all. He knows all, and He wants to touch us.
Where do you need God to find you today? What touch from Heaven do you need?
With just one touch, everything changes.
Let Him see deep into you today.
Then worship Him with everything you have.
If there’s a way we can be praying for you as a family please reply to this email and let us know!
Blessings,
Kelly
