God Is

Day 33

The One Who Sees

Spotlight Verse:

From His throne He observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so He understands everything they do.Psalm 33:14–15 NLT

Take a good look at the Scripture reading for today and notice all the ways the Psalmist describes God’s omniscience:

The Lord looks… sees… observes… understands… watches…

But… why?

When I was a kid devouring every comic book I could get my hands on, there was a character in the Fantastic Four series called The Watcher. He was an omniscient being who lived on the moon, and could see everything humans did.
He knew it all. But he was allowed to do nothing about it. He merely watched… observed… knew…

That’s the picture of God a lot of people have. Like Bette Midler sang: “God is watching us. From a distance.”

But God’s omniscience is not like that. He sees… and He helps.

The Living One Who Sees

A single mother many ages ago experienced this: Hagar, in the Bible.

In fact, this handmaid of Sarah had her own intriguing, personal name for God.

The Bible says,

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 16:13

I have to wonder why this name for God meant so much to Hagar.

Maybe she was used to being invisible.

Perhaps because she was the handmaid, the servant, the help, people just sort of looked right through her. She was not seen as much as used. Even Abraham essentially used her to bear a son.

But somewhere she learned about God. And of all the attributes of God that might have impressed Hagar, she is moved most by the mere fact that God, the ruler of all,
sees her.

He sees her! He notices her need, validates her existence, acknowledges her dignity and worth.

She even names a well in the desert after God; she calls it “The well of the Living One who sees me.”

Then later, in beautiful wordplay, when Hagar and her son are about to starve in the desert, alone, the Bible says God “opened her eyes” and she sees — she sees an oasis that saves their lives.

The One who sees helped her see the precious oasis.

Just as the holy one makes you holy,

Just as the all-powerful one gives you power,

Just as the God of love helps you love,

so the Living One who sees enables you to see.

I have a suggestion for you: Whenever you pray today, try addressing God with Hagar’s name for Him: “You are the Living One who sees me.”

And then wait for God to open your eyes, so you see the oasis, the beauty, the rest for your soul, near you!

God is… the Living One who sees me.