Genesis 21 - Invisible

There is an accidental theme starting to emerge from some of these Genesis posts. A consistent thread of an idea that I promise I am not deliberately weaving. And I think it is this:

You are not invisible to God.

God sees you. He hears you. He knows what is important to you and what is a struggle right now. You are on His radar. This is a message that comes across in chapter 15, chapter 16, chapter 18 and today, chapter 21.

In this one, Hagar and her son have been thrown into the desert but Abraham. His wife was too jealous to have them live in the same household. Hagar, believing her boy will die, is too devastated to watch his demise and leaves him off by himself. And then in verse 17 we see the five words that change the story:

"God heard the boy crying,"

There are perhaps bigger things that happens in this chapter. Words and promises that shape history in ways that might be more important than this half of a sentence. But, I think there is great hope hidden in this idea.

A boy had become invisible. He was expelled from his father's house. He was left alone in the wilderness to die. He was no one, about to die a no one's death. And yet God heard the boy crying.

You have probably not been in this exact situation, alone in the desert, waiting for inevitable death. But you have lost something. There is something in your life that you feel is invisible to God. Maybe it's a dream, a career that pulls at your heart but you are convinced God doesn't see. Maybe it is a lost relationship that left scars you know won't heal on their own but you think don't matter to God.

It could be anything, but I don't think that is the point. The point is that God still hears boys and girls crying. He still listens. He still acts. Regardless of how big or how small your desert is.

You are not invisible to God.