Here is a devotion to start your day!
A spoken version of this devotion is available through the Still, Here audio reflections podcast.
Scripture: Genesis 16:7–14
She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?”
Reflection
Hagar, Abraham’s servant, is not a matriarch or prophet. She is a slave, used and discarded in a story that barely seems to notice her name. Pregnant, mistreated, and alone, she flees into the wilderness—into the kind of barren place that has swallowed countless invisible lives.
But heaven has not looked away. “The angel of Yahweh” finds her by a spring on the way to Shur. He calls her by name and asks where she has come from and where she is going. In the middle of her running, God interrupts her story with His presence and a future. He does not gloss over her suffering. He sees it, names it, and blesses the child within her.
In response, Hagar gives God a name: “You are the God who sees me.” The wilderness that began as a place of escape becomes the place where she discovers that she is not forgotten.
Many of us carry Hagar’s ache—stories of being overlooked, used, or pushed aside. The season of Lent tenderly invites these wounds into the light. Love in the wilderness is not abstract. It is personal, attentive, and fiercely aware of the ones who feel unseen.
If you feel like a side character in other people’s stories, hear this: God knows your name. The wilderness where you cry alone is the very place He comes close.
A Prayer of Presence
God who sees me,
Look on the hidden places in my story. Find me in the lonely stretches I would rather avoid. Speak my name with kindness. When I am tires, afraid, or alone, remind me I am never invisible to You. – Amen
Practice for Today
Spend a few minutes imagining Jesus sitting beside you in a place where you have felt unseen or mistreated. What does He notice? What might He say? Jot down a few words or phrases that come to mind.
Consider This...
Where in my life do I feel most unseen, unheard, or forgotten—and what might it mean that God sees me there?
Carry This Prayer With You Today
Breathe in: God who sees me...
Breathe out: … hold me in hidden places
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