A God Who Sees

As I continue my study through Scripture on justice, I found myself this morning in the middle of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar's story. This story is from the very beginning full of the injustice of people's choices - in most cases one injustice leading to another. Sarah is barren (I'm sure she felt this was unjust) . . . her response was to bring justice to her situation in the only way she knew how . . . Hagar is unjustly given to Abraham, used as a forced surrogate . . . her response is to seek justice against Sarah by despising her and gloating over the pregnancy . . .  Sarah responds to Hagar's attitude by unjustly kicking out of the house the woman she herself begged her husband to sleep with in order to conceive a child - sounds like day time TV! Enter the just God of the universe - amazingly the Angel of the Lord comes to Hagar in her unjust situation and speaks directly to her heart - assuring her that He will bring justice to her and her unborn child. Hagar's response is to call God by a name that is one of my favorite names for Him - Beer Lahai Roi - You-are-the-God-Who-Sees!  I would venture to say that most of us long for God to see the injustices in our lives - validate the situations we are in and call them what they are. God did not take Hagar out of the unjust situation - remarkably He tells her to return to the very people that brought on the injustice (I'm not convinced that is a principle to use in these situations - still pondering that one) Yet, God promises Hagar that she will bear a  son, whom she is to name Ishmael - which means "God hears" . . . In the midst of this unjust situation, God's message to Hagar is I am a God who sees and hears . . . a message I want to take to those living in the quagmire of injustice - there is a God who sees and hears - you are not forgotten!