Emel looked at me in surprise. “Do you think God sees me? I mean, ME?”
She looked at the phone in her hand and examined the words of Genesis 16 on the screen.
I prayed silently as Emel read, all the while trying to keep a tight grip on the wiggling body of my 11-month-old Hannah.
It was because of my happy baby daughter that I was now sitting here in the mall’s food court with Emel. Hannah has recently discovered waving. Now, whenever I go out with her, she exuberantly and indiscriminately waves at people. One after another, stone-cold faces light up with broad smiles at her delightful baby wave.
It’s one of my favorite things to see—the immediate transformation that occurs when Hannah waves at people who look stressed or angry. Their demeanors relax as they discover that they are seen and noticed—the sole focus of another’s joyful attention. Quite impulsively, they smile and wave back.
One day, while sitting in the food court at the mall, Hannah’s friendly wave captured a sad-faced Muslim woman, Emel. As we chatted, Emel shared how her husband is dying of cancer.
“I don’t know how I’m going to care for my son all by myself,” she confessed. Her eyes were filled with fear and hopelessness.
“Let me share with you the story of Hagar,” I said. I looked up the story in an Arabic Bible app on my phone and handed it to Emel. When she finished reading it, I summarized how the young and pregnant servant flees into the desert, where God encounters her and encourages her. In response, Hagar says, “You are the God who sees me” (Genesis 16:13, NIV).
Emel looked at me with pensive eyes and asked, “Do you think He sees me?” Then, her face broke into a smile. “He does!” she said in response to her own question. “God does see me!”
God moves, and His Word is alive and active. I simply pointed Emel to God’s Word. The Spirit did the rest by helping her see the truth she needed to discover: that God, full of compassion and mercy, sees her.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to reveal God’s truth to Emel through His Word. Pray Christ will be magnified in her life and in her family.
**This account comes from a long-term worker. Names have been changed for security.**
Original article: FrontiersUSA.org/blog/article/the-god-who-sees-me
