Genesis 16:9, 13 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands….And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me.
When Sarai saw that Hagar conceived, Sarai despised her and dealt hardly with her. So Hagar fled to a spring in the desert. There the angel of the Lord appeared to her, gave her a promise for her descendants, and said, ”Return to your mistress.” Hagar responded to the presence God and to the word of the Lord by returning and submitting.
Hagar responded in faith, saying, ”You are a God of seeing, and you look after me.” The Lord saw her in distress and cared. She believed God. He did not excuse her shirking her duties and running away nor did He remove the hardship, but He did see and He did care, and He gave her a promise. Knowing that God was there and gave a promise was enough for her to go back into a difficult situation and to thrive.
Now we know that God is everywhere and knows everything and sees everyone, but it requires faith to know that the Lord not only sees my need but also cares about it. He does not always take away the pains of life, but He does promise to be there with us and give us strength for every issue we must deal with. The ”God who sees” shows up in our life’s desert every time we hear the Gospel and receive the Sacrament. We respond in faith and the Lord who sees us gives hope and promise, love and grace, joy and peace. We receive it all with faith and we return to our life.