In the book of Genesis, a pregnant slave called Hagar was running away from her slave-owner Sarai who had been cruel towards her. The Lord sent an angel.

Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

The angel of the LORD also said to her:

“You are now pregnant

and you will give birth to a son.

You shall name him Ishmael,

for the LORD has heard of your misery.

He will be a wild donkey of a man;

his hand will be against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he will live in hostility

toward all his brothers.”

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16: 9−13

A well was dug at that place called “Beer Lahai Roi” meaning “well of the Living One who sees me”.

There is a beautiful moment in the Hollywood movie Avatar. Neytiri, the Na’vi warrior and princess of Pandora recognises the call and destiny of the movie’s hero, Jake Sully, the one she has been falling in love with. She says to him, “I see you!” meaning “I understand you; I see into your heart”. “I know who you are.”

Hagar must have felt very alone when she was running away from Sarai. Perhaps she even thought God had abandoned her. After all, Sarai and her husband Abram were recipients of the promises of God. God had spoken to them, and they were prosperous by His hand. Hagar had effectively run away from the people of God’s favour. Why would God care about her?

But God hadn’t forgotten her. He had seen her in the desert. He had seen her in her sadness, and after the angel spoke to her with instructions and promises, she could encourage herself with a new truth in her experience: ‘God sees me, too’; “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Perhaps we can draw comfort from these words too. Maybe nobody was watching when that guy treated you unkindly, or when you were passed over again for that promotion. Perhaps no other soul was aware of how alone you felt the other day, and no-one can possibly understand the ordeal you have just been through.

But He sees you. And understands you and knows you. And He loves you. The One who, at times, may appear to only bless others, sees you too. Maybe like Hagar, we too can pray, “You are the God who sees me.”