Seen
Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?” Genesis 16:13 NASB
Who sees – “I see you.” How rare it is to find someone who can actually be seen. Most of the time we hide behind the protective shells we have constructed so that we will not be truly seen. To be truly seen is to be entirely vulnerable, and as Brené Brown notes, vulnerability is engaging in relationships without guarantees. But vulnerability is also the source of joy, peace and wholeness. The things we really want come at the price of letting others see us.
With that in mind, this verse contains some striking implications. First, of course, is the fact that Hagar was seen only when she reached the end, when she was ready to die. All the protective shells she used to barricade herself from the trauma in Abraham’s household were finished. She was alone, in the desert, unable to cope any longer. She was seen when she was helplessly desperate.
Secondly, she declares utter surprise that when she was seen by God, she remained alive. In the presence of the God who sees, she expected to die. She was content for God to remain hidden during all the time of her struggle, but when the hidden God became visible, she imagined that it would be the end of her life, not the renewal. Most of us have such little respect for the awesome majesty of YHVH that we don’t expect to die in His presence. We have so many protective shells, even with God, that we never come to the place of extinction before Him. Our theology and doctrines keep us insulated from majesty, power and awe. Not only does God not see us because we are so well self-protected, we don’t see Him either. Death is not part of our equation of relationship. Perhaps that’s why there is so little real change when we “encounter” God. We aren’t shocked to still be alive.
Finally, we should take notice of what happens to Hagar. The same pattern happens to us. You and I, just like Hagar, see who we are. We are broken. We are helpless. We are filled with failure, remorse, guilt, anxiety and confusion. We see ourselves in terms of the past paths we chose. Hagar’s answer to the question, “Where did you come from?” is a declaration of how she sees herself—filled with pain.
Like Hagar, others see us for what we pretend to be. For Hagar, that outward shell was her role as the true mother of Abraham’s child, the antagonist of Sarah, the Egyptian slave raised to powerful status, the lover of her master, the one who brought him satisfaction and fulfillment. Like Hagar, we often construct identities based on the expectations of others. We play roles, attempting to convince ourselves that if we play them well enough, our true, fragile selves will be overlooked, perhaps even accepted. It doesn’t happen, and we know it doesn’t happen, because at the end of the day, we are still really what we see of ourselves. Hagar is still a slave, a tool for someone else’s use. And we are still like her—broken, unseen and tools for someone else to use.
Then there is another level of seeing. Just as Hagar discovered, we can be seen by God, and God sees who we can become.
I see who I am. You see who I pretend to be. But God sees who I can become. In those three ways of seeing lies the whole history of human identity.
Topical Index: see, el-roi, identity, Hagar, Genesis 16:13
A NOTE ON CROSSING: The Struggle for Identity
The initials orders for my newest book, Crossing, have depleted the inventory. More books are on their way. So don’t despair (a topic that is covered in the book). You just have to wait a few more days. And please remember that even though it is available on Amazon, Amazon keeps 65% of the price so if you order from my web site it benefits me much more. Thanks. You can order Crossing by clicking here.
I’d never thought of it before, but I guess we really do assume these days that to see God is something less than consuming and deadly. We ask to see Him in our prayers and our songs, and it’s almost expected that if you truly “know” God that you will see Him. Maybe we have a different definition for His presence. I’ve felt the weight of His presence once in my life, and I remember being so completely overwhelmed that I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but laugh and cry and lie on the floor thanking Him for Him. It’s the one moments when I look back and KNOW, without a single doubt, that God is God and He is truly real and present. So even when my paradigm is shifted and shaken, when I don’t know what to think or how to pray or how to worship or how to understand, I remember that one moment. I don’t know if I expected to die, but I learned a little about awe and wonder. And that was just a small taste, I think, of all that He is.
Have You Seen This Man?
~ and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls ~ (1 Peter 1.8)
For [now] we walk by faith, not by sight.. (2 Corinthians 5.7)
When my lifework is ended and I cross the swelling tide,
When the bright and glorious morning I shall see;
I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side,
And His smile will be the first to welcome me.
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
And redeemed by His side I shall stand;
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
By the print of the nails in His hand.
Oh, the soul-thrilling rapture when I view His blessed face,
And the luster of His kindly beaming eye;
How my full heart will praise Him for His mercy, love and grace,
That prepared for me a mansion in the sky.
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
And redeemed by His side I shall stand;
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
By the print of the nails in His hand.
Oh, the dear ones in glory how they beckon me to come,
And our parting at the river I recall;
To the sweet vales of Eden they will sing my welcome home,
But I long to meet my Savior first of all.
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
And redeemed by His side I shall stand;
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
By the print of the nails in His hand.
Thro’ the gates to the city in a robe of spotless white,
He will lead me where no tears will ever fall;
In the glad song of ages I shall mingle with delight,
But I long to meet my Savior first of all.
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
And redeemed by His side I shall stand;
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
By the print of the nails in His hand.
~ [For] Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that we know now is partial and incomplete, but then we will know everything completely, just as God now knows us completely ~
~ [that I too] may be found in Him*, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes [only] from God on the basis of faith, that I [too] may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead ~
All glory and praise shall rest upon Him, so willing to die in my place.
~ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.. to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!! ~
“Being conformed to his death”. I have been given the opportunity to participate in His substitutionary death in my stead. If self has not died, then to see His face is to die along with that rebellious self, for no rival can stand before Him, but we have this assurance that we can stand if we are “lowly of heart”. If I have already died TO self, death has no more power over me, for only my self has the power to put me in that place of annihilation.
Humility: the return to the humus of which I am made. When I can see my sins through His eyes, then, like Job, I have the opportunity to repent in dust and ashes (hey, he was already there!) and there is “no more breath in me”, for I see that I am already dead in my trespasses and sins. Nothing worse could ever possibly happen to me, for this is my greatest fear of all: myself. When I can face that, then I can face Him. Until then, His face represents my biggest rival, for I am still installed on my little throne of rebellion, and I know it. I am only going to be glad to see my Saviour if He has, indeed, saved me. From me.
~ Now if [since] we have died with Christ, we believe [know] that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.. ~
~ Here is a trustworthy saying: If [Since] we died with him, we will also live with Him..~
RE: Like Hagar, we often construct identities based on the expectations of others. We play roles, attempting to convince ourselves that if we play them well enough, our true, fragile selves will be overlooked, perhaps even accepted.
So basically, Erving Goffman could have learned a few lessons from Hagar?
This came recently as I forge my way through my identity crisis.
Losing. Dying. Living.
I am fighting, no – warring, to understand
This love, this connection
This way of being that demands more of me than is there
It is death of me
Of my rights, needs, wants, perceptions
It is relinquishing ownership
But ownership of what?
Something I only thought was mine – me.
I have been bought with a price that I did not pay.
Blood. Another death. The price for me.
Who does this?
Who buys my death?
How does the exchange happen?
A choice. A paradox. A contronym.
Death is life.
I only exist if I don’t.
It hurts, this losing who I think I am.
It’s harder than the words imply
And I am fighting, no – warring, to understand how to do it.
Shalom Sherri
hearing you in your silences, wondering with you……as you struggle. All wrestlers are we, with Truth for Truth…………….stay the course Chaverim Sherri. By leaving ourselves we find home in Him. Love Fiona
Gal 4: 22For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Bondage or Free… the choice is not ours but the result of our forefathers actions. Many fathers in teaching but only one Master in guiding us. What are we leaving for the next generation…
If there is no choice, then what is the point of Yeshua’s death?
It’s unfortunate when commentary on a verse is removed from the context of the author and audience. It happens all the time, of course, but that doesn’t justify the outcome. I suggest you listen to my discussion on Galatians as a whole before you decide that this verse is about God’s sovereign CONTROL of man’s situation.
“Let me see You,” said Moses.
“Let me hear from You,” said David.
“Let me touch You,” said Mary.
“Why not just have Me?” says the Lord.
The Birds and the Bees
The One who suspends the stars also sees the sparrow.
~ Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his life?” ~
~ I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are Mine ~ (Psalm 50:11)
I am 3 people: whom I think I am, who i try to make others think I am, and who I was actually born to be
Well said Craig…
Accept to humble ourselves unto the sovereign control of God. or as Paul said in 1 Cor 15 from the earth focusing Adam to the spirit guided Adam. The purpose of the death of Yeshua to establish this lasting legacy…
We then all become but prophets for a specific purpose as found in Isaiah 45, Amos 7:14, Jeremiah 1… And for me it is this purpose that determines our salvation and or eternal life (legacy as a servant… of what that is, is determined by what I willing serve which [Yes Skip] is my decision Rom 6:16)
The Running Man
O sinner man, — where you gonna to run to?
Hagar ran away (or rather, attempted to). Jonah ran away (or rather, attempted to). “The wicked flee though no one pursues..” But David knew something, perhaps these people did not know.
~ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your Presence? If I ascend to Heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.…~
May we say, “the God who is there?” (Already.) Where we may go, whether “hither or yon,” – He is (already) there!
This, today, gives me great comfort and consolation. A week from today, my son will be on the other side of the world and will be staying for one year. Is God (already) there? Yes, (Hallelujah!) He is. And? He will be (constantly) watching over my son.
~ He will feed his flock like a Shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young ~ (Isaiah 40.11)
~ And [they will say] to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” ~ (Revelation 6.16)
Hiding under a rock are we? As if God does not already know presactly where you are. He knew about Hagar and her “situation.” He saw Jonah down in the unpleasant depths and heard his prayer. “The wrath of the Lamb?” The Deliverer is also the Destroyer! ALL authority has been (I say “has been” – not “will be” given unto Him!) including btw, both Life and Death..
O, blessed Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee! Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!
One last question, Is He “the God who is there?” or is He “the God who is “Now Here?”
~ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” ~ “Awake, Thou that sleepest and Christ shall give thee light.”
May we each practice the Presence of Emmanuel today!! His unchanging, everlasting, faithful promise is — “Behold, I AM with you, (always!)”
CARL INTERESTING EXCERPTS. I like using – Whatever you ask in My name… and then ask specifically what is this name we need to ask in? Isaiah 9… and not “In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord” etc. Just to emphasize how often we interpret the scripture at face value instead of intent…
Just makes me think that maybe you also believe God knows everything but tolerates a lot as we are not yet heavenly creatures…