To be seen. This concept is all over our culture today. What does that mean to us? According to Google AI, “To be ‘seen’ means to feel authentically known, validated, and accepted by others for who you truly are, both the parts you show and those you hide. It involves feeling noticed, valued, and understood, leading to a sense of connection, belonging, and empowerment. Feeling unseen can result in feeling invisible, misunderstood, or neglected.” Now that’s a lot to unpack, but let’s just look at the basic underpinnings of that definition, which is a desire to be known. To be seen equates with being known. This is huge in the lives of two women we see in scripture. The first is Hagar. An Egyptian slave girl of Sarai, Hagar, was mistreated and abused by Sarai and Abraham when she was forced to have a baby with Abram. This woman thought her position had changed once she became pregnant, but Sarai then treated her harshly, and she fled into the desert to escape. And it is here, in the desert, that Scripture tells us “The angel of the LORD found Hagar.” Did you catch that? He found her! It’s implying that the LORD was looking for her. She was not alone in her suffering and in the pain of her mistreatment. He found her and acknowledged her position and circumstances and gave her a promise of what her child, a son, would become. In an act of faith, Hagar acknowledges the Lord by calling Him El Roi
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