The God Who Sees, Cares and Walks With Us

Reading the accounts of people’s journey of faith in what is called the Old Testament [The Jewish Bible] can be confusing. Life was very different 2, 3, or 4.000 years ago. If you’ve read the account of Abraham’s life, you’ve probably had moments where scratched your head and thought “What?” Abraham and his wife Sarah couldn’t get pregnant. Sarah suggested to Abraham that he sleep with her servant, who could give them a child. Abraham agreed to Sarah’s solution for a child. Hagar, Sarah’s servant, got pregnant and gave birth to Abraham’s son, Ishmael. “When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt.’ … Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.” Genesis 16:4-6 (NLT) God appeared to Hagar, spoke comfort, encouragement and promises to her. “Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.’ She also said, ‘Have I truly seen the One who sees me?’” Genesis 16:13 (NLT) “The One who sees.” God is not only the One who sees, He is also the One who understands, cares, and acts on people’s behalf. Jesus said His Father is aware of every sparrow falling from the sky and every hair that you lost last time you showered. “Our Father, who is in heaven,” sees everything! Nothing happens in secret or “behind his back.” He sees you! He sees what you are going through. He promises to walk with you through the water, the fire and the “valley of the shadow of death.” This week I reminded someone under hospice care of the poem “Foot Prints in the Sand.” The poem reveals a God who cares and a God who carries. No one knows the author of the poem popular in the 20th century. The idea of “foot prints in the sand” is found in print as far back as the 1700s. Here’s the poem. Let it remind you of the God who SEES, CARES AND WALKS WITH US. One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, One belonging to me and one to my Lord. After, the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints. This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. "Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me." He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you Never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."