The eyes of the Lord are always upon His people and His land, as Moses reminded the Israelites before they entered it.
11 But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Deuteronomy 11:11-12 (ESV)
“Have I also seen Him who sees me?”
Those were the words of Hagar, the maid of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, when God had first called the Jewish nation to be a people set apart for Himself. God had promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child who would become the next generation in a growing Israelite family, as numerous as the stars of heaven or grains of sand on the seashore. Their child, Isaac, would also become the second person in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, as recorded in Matthew 1.
But ten years passed after His promise, and no child had come. In Sarah’s words, God had “restrained” her from having the promised child. So she then came up with her own alternate plan – use her maid Hagar as a surrogate to make up for God’s “failure” to come through. She proposed that Abraham marry Hagar, as well, and he agreed. Hagar quickly conceived. Bad blood between the two wives understandably arose, and Sarah became very harsh with Hagar. With Abraham’s reluctant permission, she then sent Hagar off into the desert to fend for herself.
The Lord had never approved of Sarah’s plan. It short circuited His will and ended up having very serious negative repercussions. But the eyes of God saw Hagar’s trial. As she prepared to die in the desert, the Lord met her by a spring of water. He lovingly told her to swallow her pride and return to Abraham and Sarah for her benefit and the benefit of her coming child, who God told her would be a male to be named Ishmael.
Hagar then gave a name to the Lord, “El Roi”, which in Hebrew means the “God Who Sees Me”. In fact, He is a God who sees and cares about each one of us.
Five centuries after Abraham, Moses assured the Israelites that God would see them and would watch over the land He was bringing them into. The Lord would not abandon them unattended in their new land after Moses died, and if they made God a priority in their lives, He would continually watch over them to protect their land forever and provide everything they need to thrive in safety in their faith community.
God continues watch over us today, eager to grow His kingdom and fellowship with those who have faith in Him.
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NKJV)
The eyes of the Lord are always watching throughout the earth to draw new believers to Himself, even granting them a kernel of willingness needed to take that step of faith toward Him. The Father draws us toward the gift of salvation, generously provided through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus offered Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for all our sins – past, present and future – and grants us the righteousness which allows us to approach the Father, day or night, with a clean, repentant and grateful heart.
Though the Father is actively drawing each of us to Himself, it is totally up to us how to respond. God will never force us to accept His loving invitation. We have the free will to receive, ignore or reject His offer, as we see fit. But there is great wisdom and blessing when we respond with openness to the loving God who sees us and cares for us each day, and to accept the sacrifice of Christ so lovingly given on our behalf.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 (NKJV)
Reflection
In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us that our Heavenly Father knows what we need. The God Who Sees Us also cares.
One of the basic concepts of recovery programs is surrendering to the care of a loving God rather than trying to run the show all by ourselves. God invites us to turn to Him whenever we are confronted by situations too large for us to carry alone. Is there a situation in your life too big to handle alone today?
Father God, thank You for watching over us with love each hour of the day and night. Help us to surrender to Your will and care and to walk in Your light. Clean us up and use us for Your glory and for the growth of Your kingdom. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 