God sees what you’re going through.

Picture this: a runaway slave alone in the desert, pregnant not by her own choice but by the choice of her master. She had no obvious plan but to escape a life she despised. This was not what she wanted and not what she had asked for.

I can’t relate to the situation, but I can relate to the desperation she must have been feeling. I think a lot of us can. Maybe someone hurt you or put you in a bad situation that you’re still feeling the consequences of. Maybe the pressures of life feel like a thousand-pound weight on your shoulders. Maybe you’re exhausted by everything life has thrown at you, or by panic about what’s to come. If any of those sound like you, I think you can relate to Hagar’s story.

Abraham’s wife, Sarah, couldn’t conceive—so Abraham took matters into his own hands and got his wife’s slave, Hagar, pregnant. Sarah mistreated Hagar (Genesis 16:6), and Hagar despised Sarah (Genesis 16:4). Eventually, Hagar ran away into the desert.

Verse 7 says that “the angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert.” I find this fascinating because Hagar was not a Jew; she was an Egyptian servant. If anything, Hagar was a hindrance to God’s plan of Abraham and Sarah having many descendants. Yet this verse says the angel found her. He was seeking her out. He tells her to return to her master, and that God will increase her descendants.

I think if I were Hagar and I had just escaped a master who mistreated me, I’d be like, “Thanks but no thanks. I’ll take my chances out in the desert.” That’s not what she says, though. Instead, she listens to the angel, but also says something so impactful:

“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me.'” (Genesis 16:13)

You are the God who sees me.

This is the same God who sees you, in your desert, right where you are. Maybe life feels unfair or impossible. Maybe you’re waiting for God to rescue you or you just feel like running away from it all. Whatever it is that you are going through, worrying about, or obsessing over…God sees you. He sees you. He sees what’s been done to you, He sees what you’re worried about, and He knows what you need.

Hagar’s problems didn’t magically disappear when she had this encounter with God. In fact, God told her to go back to her problems. I think a lot of us get stuck waiting for God to rescue us from our situations when, for one reason or another, He just isn’t. But even when God doesn’t do what we hoped He would, He is still with us and for us.

If you’re feeling weary or anxious, I want to encourage you to sit with the God who sees you. The pressures and demands of the world can wait. Cry out to Him. Tell Him what you’re feeling. Then, take ten minutes and do something that relaxes you. Whatever it is, I want you to take a break. Relax your shoulders. Unclench your jaw. Make a cup of tea or coffee. And imagine God is sitting there with you.

The God who sees you, truly sees you, and knows everything you need is sitting right there with you. He is a good Father who loves you. Spend time with Him today, just as Hagar did.