Have you ever felt invisible? During a church visit (a long time ago), I stood a few feet away from my husband, who was our church administration supervisor at the time, watching as people shook his hand and talked to him. Some girls standing nearby saw me and asked if I was waiting to talk to Mr. Tkach. I’m sure I had a strange look on my face as I said, “Yes, I am.”
Many women have felt invisible through the centuries, and not only felt that way, but virtually were. One woman who experienced this was Hagar, one of Sarai’s Egyptian slaves. Genesis 16 tells what happened to her when Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands and make God’s promise of many descendants come true early.
Hagar became one of Abram’s wives, became pregnant and developed a bit of a ’tude, despising her mistress. When Abram indicated he didn’t really care what happened to Hagar, Sarai abused her so much she ran away into the desert.
It’s not hard to imagine her emotional state as she headed out to almost certain death—pregnant, alone, unwanted, with no hope and no future. But it must have seemed a better alternative than what she had to endure from Sarai.
And then, as she sat by a spring at the side of a road, the angel of God found her and told her to go back and put up with the abuse. He then promised her many descendants as well. Hagar’s response was unlike any other in the Bible: “You’re the God who sees me! Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him! (Genesis 16:13, The Message). In that moment she knew she wasn’t invisible anymore.
No matter how small or insignificant you may feel at times, rest assured God sees you. We are not invisible to him—no one is. David asked what is man that God is mindful of him. The answer is, God so loved the world he gave his only son so that we might have eternal life.
He sees us and he loves us. And just as he found, comforted and guided Hagar, he does the same for every one of us. May he open our eyes to see him as she did, the Living God who sees us.