GENESIS 16:13 “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.’” (NIV)
“THE GOD WHO SEES ME”:
I want you to know that there will be unusual seasons in your walk with the Lord. Don’t let this trouble you too much. Some of you who read this have grown accustomed to times of great miracles, where God is moving and seems to answer instantly and miraculously to everything you ask of Him. But then, all of a sudden, it seems that He has disappeared and is no longer even noticing you. Without you having a choice or voice in the matter, it seems as though you have stepped over into a dry season of toil & tribulation.
I want you to know that this season of famine and wrestling and difficulty is just as important as the season of harvest and production. In the Spirit, you are breaking open the hard earth and planting seeds that seem dry and dead now, but will produce a wonderful harvest in the near future. Your great trial and your new breakthrough/blessing are actually connected to each other, in God’s realm.
A clear sign you may be in this kind of spiritual season is that while you are under great stress and trials, you are still steady, living a clean life, and not escaping over into the temporary relief found in the flesh. You are praying and pressing in to the Heavenly things like never before… but He does not seem to do a quick miracle like He used to do; as you were used to seeing Him do. He seems to have gone silent and His sweet presence and miracle power seem to not come as easy. What to do now?
Worship and love on Him even though He does not reciprocate. Keep on asking, knocking, and seeking even though no one has come to the door yet to open it. Even though it seems “the light is on but no one is home”, keep at it. Keep toiling the ground and planting the seeds of intense prayer and worship, hope and faith, especially when it seems hopeless and a waste of time. This is your sacrifice of praise. This is your act of faith in the midst of great difficulty. And boy, is the Lord watching now. Is the Lord ever closer than at these moments? These are the times that count so much for your sowing into the things of faith and the Spirit. This is where the great breakthrough and outpouring originate from, which will come later. And a big harvest is coming. But some of it is according to what you do now in the hard places.
Remember Hagar & Ishmael, in Genesis 16. Hagar the Egyptian slave was impregnated, then treated her master’s wife badly, and then was mistreated back by the same, and then ran away from home with nothing? What a low and humiliating position to be in. From a worldly view, there was no reason anyone should care about Hagar’s comfort. She was both slave and foreigner. Through a mixture of various pressures and competing needs, she was quickly in a place of desperation before God came and encouraged her. Hagar found out about God’s carefulness with low people that day: He really does see me! I am not invisible or meaningless to Him. He sees me and cares enough to come and find me and tell me His wonderful plans for me! Hagar was able to see God in a new way. She had a revelation or “ah – ha” that day. She had a deeper perception that God truly saw her, validated her, and was her source of self worth. (Gen. 21:16)
Your soul may cry out: “What’s the use? This is not working! When God is finally ready to actually help us, he knows where to find me. Looks like I will have to just depend on myself in this case. God is useless here.” In the midst of our trials, the enemy will often come against us with an inferiority complex – that we are less than others and that we will never amount to anything. He attacks us with feelings of low self esteem and loneliness. At such times we must invite the Holy Spirit to affirm us and lift us up internally and position-ally back into a place of favor and grace. In extreme crisis: fight to remain in the secret place of the Lord. Don’t leave.
“For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.” (Heb. 12:6) Then in verse 11 it says: “Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness…” KJV
Did you catch that? If the Lord has embraced you as his own child, there will be times of great difficulty. Sorry. It’s not sexy. But there is no crown without a cross, and no true victory without great struggle and loss. The only time the teacher is perfectly silent, is during the test taking. He brings us through low places in order to raise us up and bless us in high places. (Psalms 66) He is the God who sees you. In other words – He is the one who will save you very soon. This trial will come to a quick end, soon. Stay true, do your best, and don’t be too hard on yourself when you backslide just a little bit. Cling to His heart, even when it hurts to remain faithful. You will soon see Him in a new way, too. If you are in that difficult season right now, just remember: He is the God who sees you. He never did leave you -- it just seems that way. He really is here, watching, perhaps closer than ever. And He will soon rescue you, pick you up again, and bless you.
Amen and well said Pastor! I receive this on my own behalf and for all those suffering through such a season till its good purpose be made known by the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit!
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