Monthly Archives: September 2024

The God Who Sees Me

God’s Promise to Abram

Life can be complicated especially when we jump the gun with God.

The infamous story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar unfolds like a script from a day-time soap opera. It all started when God promised Abram (before God changed his name to Abraham) that he would be the “father of a great nation.” Even Abram’s name meant “exalted father.” That’s a tough name to have when you don’t have any kids. Imagine the snickers and taunts Abram got. God promised. Abram and Sarai (before God called her Sarah) pined. Birthdays come quick when you enter your sixth and seventh decade of life. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Sara’s Servant Hagar

Enter stage left: Hagar. Undoubtedly younger than her 75-year-old counterpart, Hagar was Sarah’s personal assistant. Sarah gave up on the hope that she could have kids and schemed up a whopper of an idea. “I’ll just have Hagar sleep with my husband to give us a baby.” It takes surrogacy and in-Vetro to a whole new level. In our culture, we can’t wrap our minds around this desperation of irrationality. For Abraham and Sarah, it was a cultural and financial decision.

Without an heir, Abraham, the wealthy businessman that he was, would pass on his business and all his assets to his right-hand man Eliezar, as was custom. Another option, however, was for Abraham to father a child by the “handmaid” of his wife.

Hagar’s Pregnancy

Hagar got pregnant. As you can imagine, things didn’t go well between Sarah and Hagar. Two women who were presumably friends at one time, now had a falling out. Hagar treated Sarah with contempt and looked down on her. Sarah was scorned and you know what they say, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

Abraham, like any good husband, simply said, “You’re her boss. You handle the situation however you see fit.” (Genesis 16:6) Sarah made Hagar’s life difficult. It was tough enough that Hagar abandoned her job and went on the run as a single expectant mom. Abandoned by everything she came to know and love, Hagar found herself alone by a well in the wilderness.

God Sees Hagar

In this moment, God sees her in need and sends help. An angel appears and gives direction to Hagar to return back to Abraham and Sarah and to trust God to bless her. Hagar’s response, “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)

God Sees You

Crazy story, right? Hagar did what was acceptable in the culture, but not the wisest decision. Yet God still honors her, blesses her, and sees her. Life isn’t always cut and dry, black and white. It is complex and messy. At the end of the day, life can leave us confused, unloved, and unnoticed. In spite of the situation, God saw her. God sees you. No matter how far you go from God, he still sees you. No matter what you’ve done, El Roi sees you. David knew this when he wrote, “Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7)

Don’t lose sight of your call and purpose because you are in obscurity. Refuse to believe what people say about you. Remember the one who sees you.

God’s Name for Today

El Roi- “The God who sees”

אל ראי

“You are the God who sees me.” -Genesis 16:13

An Excerpt from Our Newest Devotional

This is an excerpt from our newest devotional, God is for You. It’s a thirty-day devotional of the names of God. if you are looking for some encouragement right now, some hope…check out this devotional. I think it will really encourage your heart.

For more like this, check out my post, God is Working on Your Behalf Today.

8 Hacks to Becoming a Morning Person

1. Take a shower

One of the best things you can do to wake up is to take a shower. Add some shower gel that helps you wake up, and you’ll be awake in no time. Matt got me the set pictured below for my birthday. It’s my favorite for waking up in the morning. I’ve used the lotion and shower gel before, but the shower steamers were new to me. They are amazing! The entire bathroom smells good. The orange ginger scent is so refreshing and revitalizing; it wakes you right up.

2. Light a candle.

Candles are my love language. One of the things that helps me get going in the morning is to come downstairs and light a candle. My favorite places to get candles are TJ Max, Kirklands, and Bath and Body Works.

3. Start a new journal.

A way to refresh your morning is to pick a new journal. We just rolled out our new fall covers for our Faithfully Stepping Journals, and I am loving my new cover. It’s just an added perk to my mornings.

4. Make a cup of coffee.

I make an iced coffee every morning, even in the winter. I’m crazy; I know. But it really helps me to wake up; it also give me something to look forward to. I have coffee that I only drink in the morning. Right now, I’m enjoying Java. By saving it for mornings, I look forward to it even before I go to bed the night before.

5. Put on music.

My husband loves listening to music first thing in the morning. Before he even gets out of bed for the day, he snags his noise-canceling headphones and slips them on. It helps him to wake up and be a ready to start the day.

6. Grab a Blanket.

If you want a great morning time, start collecting warm throw blankets. Bonus if they can change out with the seasons to keep things fresh and fun. Except for the middle of summer when it’s super hot, I pretty much always snag a blanket from the back of the couch for my morning time.

7. Hang up white lights.

This one is a little extra but is one of my favorite things about my morning time. Last year, we strung white lights in the dining room. We left them up because I love coming down in the morning and turning them on. It’s a softer light than the overhead lights, and it just makes my morning time extra special.

8. Go to bed at a good time the night before.

This is so key to being able to get up in the morning. If you truly want to become a morning person, you have to learn how to go to bed at night. It’s a discipline–just like getting up early. It takes time and practice, but it’s so worth it.

These are just some hacks that work for me. I can say confidently that I have never regretted a morning that I got up early, but I have plenty of times I have regretted not getting up early.

Start Small

Start small. Get up five minutes earlier; then ten minutes. Then work it up from there. Start implementing some of my morning time hacks; try some of your own. See if you can’t fake yourself into becoming a morning person!

What are your morning hacks that help you get out of bed?

More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out our free guide on how to have a morning time routine.

Don’t Push People Away

Joseph’s Story

Joseph’s story from the Old Testament is pretty familiar. He had some really bad things happen to him. His brothers sold him into slavery. His boss’s wife falsely accused him of trying to force her, and his boss threw him in prison for it. While in prison, he interprets the butler’s dream, who promises to put in a good word with Pharaoh for him. But the butler forgets about Joseph…for two long years.

There are a lot of things that people did to him that would be impossible to forgive. And yet, each of those people played an intricate role in shaping Joseph’s life. Taking it a step further, each of those people helped put him in the position of second in command of all of Egypt.

God Worked in Every Detail

Think about this: If Joseph’s brothers wouldn’t have sold him, he wouldn’t have been in Egypt where Potiphar bought him. If Potiphar hadn’t thrown him in prison, he wouldn’t have met the butler and baker and interpreted their dreams. If the butler hadn’t forgotten about Joseph and left him there for two years, he probably wouldn’t have been able to track Joseph down when Pharaoh needed an interpretation of his dream. God was working behind the scenes in every detail of Jospeh’s life, so that when the time was right, Joseph was able to step into place and save an entire nation from starvation.

Allowing God to Work

We get so frustrated with people when they don’t think like us or do what we want them to do. And when people hurt us? Forget it! They’re dead to us. Yet, God uses all kinds of people to shape us and direct us and challenge us so that ultimately we become who he wants us to be. if we’re not careful though, we can circumvent that process. We can sidestep what God is trying to do, how he’s trying to work when we push people out of our lives.

We can also take it a step further and do this in our kids’ lives. Instead of stepping in all the time, we have to let others help shape our kids and correct them. It’s all part of growing into who God wants them to be.

If we want to be who God’s created us to be and step into the path and plan he has for our lives, we have to allow people to influence us along the way. It may mean putting up with a little more hurt and a little more frustration; but it can also add more love, fulfillment, and contentment in our lives as God uses those people to help shape us into who he wants us to be.

Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out my post, God Uses Trials to Develop Iron in our Souls. A book to read to know when to allow people to help shape us and when to step away is Good Boundaries and Goodbyes by Lisa TerKeurst.