The God Who Sees
— by Amanda Lawson
Did you ever watch the movie The Truman Show? Jim Carey plays Truman, a man who finds out that his entire life is a television show that an audience watches and he struggles to come to terms with the fact that people were constantly aware of him. As believers, more specifically, as faith driven entrepreneurs, considering a life like Truman’s raises some interesting questions. For many of us, we can feel incredibly lonely in our work, either because of our position or simply a lack of like-spirited coworkers. Would it be encouraging to know that people were watching us do our jobs and interact with our families? For some—especially in the work-from-home era—staying motivated in our work can be a struggle. Would having a studio audience cause us to put in more effort? Would it drive us to unhealthy levels of competition and expectation? Some are craving attention in our jobs and our lives because they often feel unnoticed. Are we even doing anything worth watching? What does it mean to be seen?
These questions may seem dramatic, but I think many—if not all—Christians can relate. The good news is, many—if not all—Christians can relate. The even better news is that while God’s people have faced similar struggles since the Fall, He has been faithful to remind them of His presence.
Early in 2021, I was confronted by the sad (and untrue) thought that God didn’t care about or see me. I was facing some hard and stressful situations in both my work and personal life. It seemed like there was nothing I could do to fix any of it, and that I was alone in even wanting to. Upon lamenting about the situations, a wise counselor in my life pointed me to an Old Testament woman that I must confess, I don’t think I ever considered important: Hagar.
Hagar has a brief, but significant role in the lives of Abraham and Sara. She gets caught up in Abraham’s frustrated eagerness to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless him and gives birth to Abraham’s son, Ishmael. There is too much context and many implications for this specific narrative to go into here, but long story short, Hagar and Ishmael are sent away because the promise God gave about blessing the world through Abraham was to be through his yet-unborn, unconceived son with his wife, Sara.
Hagar didn’t ask for this child. I love how the character Nicodemus describes it in an episode of The Chosen, saying that she was caught up in something that she didn’t intend for. But in facing the reality of her situation, says of the Lord, “You are the God who sees me” (Genesis 16:13).
When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, they cried out to God and “their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them” (Exodus 2:23-25). Enter Moses.
One thing we know about God is that He is consistent; the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). This means that He still is the God who sees…who sees individuals as well as nations.
Life is full of unexpected situations, hard circumstances, and lonely seasons. Yet, God sees. He knows His people. Even better, He is aware of them constantly. While we don’t have a studio audience watching us, we have a loving and powerful Father who sees our needs and has the ability to fill them.
Whatever season you are in right now, know that God sees you. He is aware of you. He has a plan for you in this season and every season coming. When work is stressful and everything is going wrong, He sees you. When you’re running around trying to ensure you get the next stage of funding, He sees you. When you’re struggling to leave work at work and maintain healthy boundaries, He sees you. Regardless of your circumstances, He still is Adonai El Roi. I can think of no better encouragement than to know that the God of the universe has a specific awareness of you.
Perhaps we should return the favor. At the end of the movie, Truman acknowledges his viewers before walking out of frame for the last time. The beautiful part of a relational God is that relationships take two people. He sees us, and we get to see Him. He talks to us; we talk to Him. My favorite thing to pray recently has been to ask for a greater awareness of the Lord. I want to see Him, to be aware of Him constantly. Part of that includes spending time in His Word. If we want to know God, to be aware of Him, let’s take the time to hear what He has already said.
He is the God who sees. Let’s look back at Him. David declared—in the middle of life-threatening circumstances—that his one desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord and gaze on Him (Psalm 27:4) because he knew that seeing the Lord would be all he needed. As we endeavor to know and serve the Lord in every part of our lives, we need to be like David and Hagar, knowing that God is aware of us and that we can be aware of Him as well.