Stories have power, regardless of whether they are true.  True stories, however, have special power, and God kindly gives us so many examples of how He deals with humans.  Today Cinthia discusses the stories of three real people who encountered the mercy of God: John Newton, Hagar, and Sarai.

John Newton was profane even for a sailor.  He denounced God.  He was a slave trader.  He rebelled against authority no matter how much it harmed him to do so.  Newton became aware of God’s mercy on him when he was protected during a terrible storm at sea, and over the next several years he changed.  He renounced the slave trade and became known for writing the great hymn which states, “Amazing grace – how sweet the sound – that saved a wretch like me.”

Do you resonate with Newton’s story at all?  Are you aware of having fought against God, of having done real harm to other people, of being a “wretch” who keeps digging the hole of your life a little deeper?  Can you see yet that His love is pursuing you?  What does God have to do to get your attention, to get you to see His redeeming love?  You have a calling on your life.  How long will you run from it?

Hagar, whose story we read in the Bible (Genesis 16), was a young girl.  She was the maid-servant of Sarai, a wealthy older woman who had been unable to have children.  Sarai gave Hagar to her husband Abram as a concubine, hoping she would become pregnant on Sarai’s behalf.  When Hagar conceived, she resented Sarai, looking on her with contempt.  Sarai complained to her husband, who said this was Sarai’s business and that she could do as she liked with Hagar, and Sarai did -- The Bible says that Sarai then “dealt harshly with” Hagar, to the point that Hagar fled from her into the desert, where the angel of the LORD found her.  He asked from whence she came and where she was going.  After she answered, the angel told her to “return to your mistress and submit to her,” then told Hagar about the plan God had for her family, the children that would come through her.  And, apparently, Hagar understood that God was answering the need of her heart; her response was to call Him “the God Who sees me.”  His answer gave her the strength to go back to what had previously been unbearable; knowing herself to be deeply seen by God changed everything.

Do you relate to Hagar?  Has your life been shaped by the decisions of other people, the needs they wanted you to fill without really seeing you as a person on your own?  Have you taken on the roles given to you until it got more painful and complicated than you could stand?  Have you reacted to hurt in ways that made things worse?  Have you been in situations you longed to escape but could not, or thrown yourself into desperate attempts to get away from what you could not handle?  God sees you.  He sees you.  Deeply, accurately, lovingly – He sees you.  Listen for His voice.  You were made for His purposes, not yours or theirs.  He will make a way for you.  If it applies, stop doing unhealthy things to be seen by others.  Where have you come from, and where are you going?  Pray your thoughts to God.  Ask Him why you are alive.  You can say things to Him that just pour out of your heart, such as, “Please, God, find me.  I need to be found by you.  I’m afraid for you to see what I’ve done.  Have you turned away from me?”  He does not simply provide for our physical needs without looking at us (Orphanage workers in certain places were told to do this with babies as a precaution, and all the infants died in those now-infamous situations.).  God looks fully into your face and into your heart, and He will meet the needs that are there.

In the same passage we see Sarai.  She longed for children, and the longing had gone unanswered month after month, year after year, until there was no natural hope left.  She knew God had promised Abram a child, and giving her maidservant to her husband was considered acceptable in her culture.  Did she think she was doing the right thing?  Was she simply greedy, determined, and willing to use others to get what she wanted?  Did she tell herself this was the unselfish path?  Whatever her motive, she chose the path that made sense to her at the time, and it backfired.  Her shame multiplied, and, when she went to her husband for help, he told her that she was on her own to fix it.  She chose her own way again, this time lashing out at Hagar.  But God still had a plan for Sarai, and He gave her a baby, too.  Even though Sarai had not trusted the mercy of God in all the ways He deserved to be trusted, He remained faithful to her.  She finally held her own child, the child of promise, and, along with Abram, named him Isaac, which means laughter.

Are you like Sarai, carrying the constant ache of deep, unmet longing?  Does it seem like the cry of your heart goes unheard, like you have not been given what would have been so easy for God to give, and like maybe you just need to cut your losses and take what you can get?  Are you ready to count yourself out and accept a solution that may not be best but that seems like the only way to get even a little bit of what you need?  Does it seem that your problems are the ones that get left behind for you to fix yourself, grasping at whatever solution seems least hopeless to you at the time?  Have you become harsh in situations where you still have some control?  God sees you, too, just as He saw Hagar and just as He saw Sarai.  He is not ignoring your longings.  He has not forgotten or discounted you.  He knows your pain, and He wants to carry it with you.  He really does have a plan to lavish you with His mercy and grace, even if you have tried to do things your own way and made a complete mess of life for yourself and for others.

Sarai and Hagar both did it their way.  Out of their pain, they took things into their own hands and did not trust the mercy of their Father in heaven.  Both were in situations beyond their own control, and both reacted in ways that made things worse.  But both received the mercy and grace of God.

Hebrews 13:5 says that God will never forsake us, but we feel forsaken, even by Him.  This verse is hard to believe sometimes.  So ask Him about it, and then ask Him for help to trust that He is with you.  God is the God Who sees us.  He is always kind.  He really does know His people.  He is kind and understanding.  He gives us strength to endure the hard things, and He walks with us through those things.

Whether you relate to one or more of these individuals, God says, “Trust Me.  I am the God Who sees you.  You may not see Me, but I see you.  I am not uninvolved.  I am doing things in your life that are beyond your comprehension, and they have to take their course.  I am the Way, and I know My own way for you.  I am the God Who knows you.  You are of immense value to me.  I am in the waiting.  I am the God of formation, and I know My process within you.  You can trust the One Who died for you.”  And you can say to Him, “You are the God Who sees me, and I need to be the one who believes You.  I need to accept the value You give me and act on it.”  And then, as we grow in this, we are called to see others, looking on them with compassion and love, seeing the unseen.  Teresa of Avila said that Christ has no hands and feet on the earth right now except ours.  When we know we are seen by Him, we can practice seeing with His eyes and reaching out with His love.

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