She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me. Genesis 16:13 NIV
‘Oh honey, what’s wrong?’ asked the middle-aged nurse when she saw the tear dribbling down my cheek. ‘It hurts so much,’ my voice weak from the anesthesia whispered. ‘Oh honey, let me give you something for the pain,’ she caringly responded.
The post-operative nurse saw me. She saw I had a need before I put it into words. She saw and she did something to relieve my pain, my hurt, and my distress.
We interact with so many people every day that don’t really see us; the barista who takes our latte order, the cashier ringing up our home improvement purchases, or the person sharing an elevator with us. Installing cameras on streets, in traffic lanes, lobbies, businesses, schools, and homes have become the credible witnesses of crime investigations because people are very unreliable. Either they are unaware, not noticing what happened, or they noticed a little but are inaccurate in what they recall, or they don’t want to be involved.
Jesus is a reliable witness of us, who we are, what we think and do, what goes on for us, and around us, and He loves us anyway!
I find great hope and comfort in the truth that Jesus sees us. Jesus notices. Jesus sees our needs before we express them and Jesus has a caring response for us.
As He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14 HCSB
He sees the people and His heart is touched. His attitude is not one of indifference, or uncaring, apathetic, not self-focused, but filled, filled with compassion. He heals their sick and then He provides food for everyone. First, He’s a hospital, then He offers hospitality. The host of hosts feeds everyone, fills their bellies, fills their hearts, and makes lifetime memories.
Living like Jesus, loving like Jesus, and serving others like Jesus means we must also be intentional in seeing people, genuinely seeing people. We must try to see their needs. Are they lonely? Fearful? Wounded? Unappreciated? Hurting? Uncertain of the future? We may not be able to help them but we know the One who can and we can bring them to Him in prayer.
Father God, thank You for seeing us. Thank You for knowing what we need. Thank You that You are what we need. Thank You. Help us to look for and truly see others. The woman in the grocery store, the person on the bus, the child in the neighborhood, the person beside us at a meeting. Help us to see, help us to listen, help us to pray and love in Your Name and for Your glory. Amen.
The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. Proverbs 15:3 NIV
