“So Hagar gave this name to the Lord Who spoke to her, ‘You are a God Who sees’” (Genesis 16:13a, NLV).
I was on my way home from the store when I saw her standing between two dingy piles of melting snow on the corner of a busy intersection.
Her cardboard sign shared her desperation, and my stomach churned with empathy. But what could I do? I had three gallons of milk in the trunk, two $1 bills in my wallet, and a pack of pink bubble gum on the dashboard. So I steered my van toward home.
No more than a mile later, a thought lodged in my mind: Go back, and let her know you see her.
I thought about how I’d looked the other way when I’d turned that corner at the stoplight as if the woman were invisible, insignificant, or both. What hurts worse? I wondered. The pain of desperation or the pang of disregard?
Returning to that intersection, I left my car in a nearby parking lot.
“Ma’am, how can I help you?” I asked when I reached her.
“I need work,” she said. Then her troubled tale spilled from a raw heart.
I listened, because sometimes the simplest way to affirm someone’s significance is to take time to hear her story.
“I don’t really know how to help,” I admitted, my eyes brimming with hot tears. “But I do know Jesus, and I know He really loves you. Could I pray for you?” To my surprise, she agreed.
In Genesis 16, we find another desperate woman. Hagar is plodding through the desert with an unborn child and a forlorn soul. And just when her situation seems hopeless, God sends a messenger to encourage her.
The messenger’s words don’t immediately change Hagar’s plight. But they promptly change her perspective. “Hagar gave this name to the Lord Who spoke to her, ‘You are a God Who sees’” (Genesis 16:13a). The woman who once felt unseen now finds herself undone by three simple truths: God sees her. He knows her pain. And He has a plan.
The story of Hagar reminds us that even when we don’t know what to do, we can point to the One we know, the One who sees.
We may not have a solution for every problem, but we carry a salve for every soul: the hope of the gospel. We know a God who is present in pain, patient in trouble, lavish in mercy, and long-suffering in love. And He treasures every person He’s created.
I shared this truth with the woman on the corner. When I finished praying, she thanked me through tears, her shoulders no longer hunched and drooping.
As I drove away, I gave her a wave and let my eyes declare what I hoped her heart was beginning to believe: You are not invisible. You are invaluable. The God who sees, sees you.
Dear Jesus, forgive me for the times I’ve ignored the needs of Your people. Use me to bring Your hope to the hopeless and Your presence to those in pain. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Job 34:21, “For God carefully watches the goings on of all mankind; he sees them all” (TLB).
Zechariah 2:8, “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye’” (NKJV).
Is there someone in your life who needs to know she’s seen by God? Prayerfully consider how to encourage her today.
Hagar’s story of God-encounters continues in Genesis 21:8-20. Read it, and ask God to speak personally to you.
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© 2026 by Alicia Bruxvoort. All rights reserved.
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