The God Who Sees

Amen. Again, I'm so happy to have everybody here in the house with us today. Thank you for making an effort to be here on Be the Church Sunday. I'm going to go to Genesis chapter 16, read a verse of scripture, then get into our word today that I feel like the Lord has for us. I do feel very confident that I'm preaching a word to someone today. I felt confirmation in my time of prayer this morning as I was reviewing my notes and just spending some time before the Lord that he just gave me a peace over my spirit that he he was wanting me to say some very specific things today. And I don't want to say this just out right at the beginning.

We we have a God who sees us. He sees you. God sees you. He knows where you're at right now. It's not an accident that you here today. In fact, I don't believe in in those those kind of coincidences. I believe in a in in a God who has moments of what I call a divine interruption. I love a divine interruption. And I feel like there's a divine interruption taking place today. So, I'm going to say this again to someone here. You're you're going through something and you feel a lot of aloneeness, a lot of fear, and a lot of angst. So, I'm speaking to you today to let you know he sees you. God sees you. He sees you. Genesis chapter 16 verse number 13.

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her. You are the God who sees. For she said, "Have I also seen him who sees me? I have seen him who sees me. He is here today with us in this place. Jesus, I pray God for the next little bit Lord that I could be used by you to reach your church. God, fill my mouth with your words. Let me say only what I need to say and nothing more. change our lives forever. In Jesus name we pray and amen. There is something inside of each and every one of us that longs to be noticed, that longs to be appreciated, that longs to be valued. It doesn't matter how old you are or where you come from or what you've accomplished in life.

Everyone wants to know that somebody cares about them. Can I get an amen? Amen. We all want to know our lives matter to somebody in some way. I've discovered something about people in general. We live in the most connected generation in human history. Yet somehow someway we've become experts at ignoring one another. Have you noticed that we got really good at it? We have cell phones and text messages and social media and all these forms, FaceTime, about 17 different ways that we can communicate with each other. Yet somehow someway you manage to feel like someone is just not paying any attention because they're always distracted. Anybody been there? You've been in the middle of a conversation with someone talking and it may this someone could be me.

I'm not saying I'm guilty of not not guilty of doing this as well. You're having a conversation. You feel like for a moment you're making that connection and then all of a sudden they do this. You're like, "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or they do this like Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh." And and I don't know about you, but it has a way of all of us feeling like all of a sudden I just become less important. Anybody felt that way before? Am I alone in that? We have all these ways to be connected, but we we feel like we're being shorted because we've lost their attention. One of the most valuable things that we can give one another is our attention. Think about the language we use.

We don't just give attention, we pay attention. Pay attention. Why? Because attention cost us something. It requires our time. It requires our focus and our willingness to stop what we're doing to recognize that somebody else is there with us to see that. And when someone gives their undivided attention, you communicate something that's that that's more important than ever saying the words out loud. They are speaking by doing that that you matter to me because we long to be valued. Think about little babies, right? We love little children. They they come into the world and they bring such joy and such such such happiness into our lives. They're there. But babies, they pick up on real quick. Before they can talk, before they can walk, when doing these things, they learn to try to capture your face.

There's been a lot of studies on this and they've learned how to connect that that if they can't see you, they start to cry. And then when they cry, all of a sudden a face appears again. And they've connected that, hey, if I get loud, someone shows up. Now, that's great when you're an infant. When you're 26, it's not so great anymore. Grandparents have figured this out, right? That when you walk into a room and all of a sudden your grandchild sees you and they light up and they come running to you and you're thinking, "Yes, they make me feel so great and grand." And as many have said, the grand the grandkids are the best. But here's the reality is you oftenimes give them what their parents want.

So, don't think too highly of yourself. But there's something beautiful about a the way a child's face lights up when someone they love walks in the room. Because being seen by somebody who loves you brings you a sense of security and belonging and peace. It's hard to describe any other way. It's there. It brings me to something that I want you to consider this morning. There are more than 8 billion people living on this planet. Every one of them has a name. Every one of them has a story. Every one of them has a future. Everyone has struggles and disappointments and dreams and desires. It's a part of living life. And yet, the Bible reveals something almost too wonderful for you and I to comprehend.

The God who created the heavens and earth knows exactly who you are. Not only does he know who you are, but he knows where you are. He knows your name. He knows where you live. He knows what you've been through. He knows what you're facing right now. He knows your He knows your joys. He knows your sorrows. He knows your fears. He knows your anxieties. He knows all these things. In the Old Testament, God instructed Moses to teach the priest how to pronounce a blessing over the people. He He did this in Numbers chapter 6. It's something that's familiar to us because there's been a song that came out during 2020 is really, really popular called the blessing. But it's directly from Numbers chapter 6, verse number 24.

The words read this way. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up, his countenance upon you and give you peace. Notice those words. The Lord make his face to shine on you. What a beautiful picture of the heart that our God has towards you and I, towards his people. God didn't simply say, "I'll keep an eye on you." He said, "I want my face to shine on you." Not just a glance, but that you have my undivided attention. I want you to know today that God sees you. He knows where you are. He knows what you're going through. He is aware of your circumstances. and he wants his face to shine upon you.

I don't know about you, but that that I can't help but feel divine favor in my life. There's this picture of God who isn't distant or indifferent. He's not a God who's not acquainted with our suffering, but he is well aware of what you and I face in our life every day. And I wonder how many people have walked in the sanctuary today who desperately need to know this that God sees you. You need to you need to know this truth that he he sees you. Maybe you've been surrounded by people all week and somehow you still felt all alone. Ever you ever felt that way? You ever been surrounded by people? You ever been in a crowd yet all of a sudden you just feel this loneliness there?

Like you're just disconnected just because people are around you. You still feel lonely. Am I the only one that's ever felt that way? Anybody else ever felt like that? But I want you to know that God sees you. Maybe you're maybe you're wondering whether anybody really understands what you're going through. Or maybe you've been carrying a burden that nobody knows anything about. Or perhaps you're visiting with us today. It's been a long time since you've been inside a church building, but you begin to feel a little something today. You're not quite sure what that is. I want you to know it's the presence of the God who sees you. He sees you. I want you to hear something this morning. You may have walked in this building feeling unnoticed, but God knows who you are.

You see, this is our annual be the church Sunday. It's one of the reasons we place such an emphasis on reaching our communities because we know that everybody belongs to Jesus. That everybody is someone he died at Calvary for. that you have never laid eyes on someone that he doesn't love. And not only does he love, but he loves just as much as he loves you. People matter to God. People matter to God. They didn't get that. People matter to God. In fact, the most important thing he has is people. Heaven's highest commodity, heaven's most valuable thing is people. Think about that. The stuff that we value like gold and precious jewels, they use they use as as as pavers in heaven because it doesn't matter to him.

What matters is souls. What matters is people. What matters is you and I. We matter to God and he sees us. He knows where we at. See, see what I've realized by studying the scriptures is that God sees what other people often times overlook. You ever felt overlooked in your life before? It's okay. This is a good place to be to be transparent. Anybody ever felt at least one time in your life that you were overlooked? Yeah. The rest of you didn't raise your hand. Need to repent later because I promise you there's been a time in your life when you felt like you were overlooked. We've all have felt that. We've all felt that I don't matter. We've all felt that moment of like nobody really cares about me.

John chapter 9, there's a beautiful story that's there. Verse number one, it says, "Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth." And I love the simplicity of this verse. Jesus was walking along going about his ministry. And when he encountered a man who had been blind from the day he was born. Now think about this for just a minute. He's never seen a sunrise. He's never seen the beauty of a flower. He's never looked into the face of his parents. He he never experienced the beauty of the natural world around him because his condition he has spent his entire life dependent on the generosity of others. For years, people have just simply passed by. In fact, as you read the story, God does a work in his life.

But even after there was a restoration of sight that had never been there, the people who had passed by him every day, I asked the question, was this the guy that was at the gate begging that that lets you know something that he had just become a fixture that was there that they never really seen him for what he was? Now, you and I are just as guilty as the rest of the people that are in this story. I mean, think about it. How many times do you pass by things on your daily drive, but if somebody was to ask you, "Did you see the sign in the yard?" You'd be like, "What sign?" Or they ask you like, "What color was the building? What?

What do you mean? What color was it? You know you passed it, but you don't pay attention because you just get busy going about your day that you're not always observant of where you're going. Now, be honest. How many How many of you have ever driven somewhere and you arrived at the place, but you don't really know how you got there? Yeah. Anybody besides me that you're so programmed to do the same thing every day that you've driven to a place you weren't supposed to go to? I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten unbelievably mad at myself because I pulled into this church parking lot. I wasn't supposed to be coming to church, but because I come here, my wife laughed at because I come here so much, my it's like I go on autopilot.

I leave the house and before I know it, I'm pulling in this parking lot. I'm like, I was when you supposed to be going? I was supposed to be in Nashville. That's what happens. And and I'm saying this for a reason because you and I, we have this ability to get so locked in on our everyday life that we don't always see people. But that's never been our God. That's never been our God. He always sees people. He always knows where they're at. This story is a perfect example as he sees a man that's blind. But the story gets a little bit deeper. I find this very interesting because he sees a man, but the people that are with him, his disciples, and we give them a hard time, but let's just just for a minute, let's pretend that we're there too.

They see a problem. Verse number two, his disciples ask him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind?" Isn't that interesting? Before they see him, they see the problem. before they ever take a moment to think about, I wonder how his life is, they all of a sudden try to try to figure out why he went wrong to have the problem that he has. Instead of seeing the value of the man, they see the problem and try to justify, I bet something went wrong along his life. I bet he made a bad choice. Or or maybe it was his mom and dad. They made a bad choice and because of their bad choice and their bad decision, he's suffering with this blindness, disregarding the value of the man.

We're no better than them. You and I are just like that. We see people going through things and often times before we ever take an opportunity to really learn their story, we predetermine, we already know, well, I bet they just made some bad choices. Now, this is going to mess with your theology just a little bit. Okay, you can't read this story with that kind of logic that there's always there's always a justification for the wrong. There's always got to be an answer that is there because there's a there's there's an answer that Jesus gives them to the critical mindset that they have. Jesus said in verse number three, "Neither this man nor his parents sin, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."

Wait a minute. Are you telling me this guy's never seen a sunrise? He's never seen the beauty of nature. And it wasn't because of a bad choice or a bad decision. It was because you needed to show the power of your work in his life. Oh my. We don't like that because we need a reason. We need a handle to hang on to. Don't act like you don't need a handle. We need a handle. When life throws us curveballs that we don't understand, we need some type of a justification for it. Cuz if I can justify it, it somehow helps me endure, but without any reason alone that seems like it's cruel and unusual punishment. Like how could there be a God of love and he allows a man to be blind his whole life?

That doesn't make sense, right? According to our logic, as we think about that, Sister Barrett, we struggle with that, don't we? I do. I don't know about you, but I do. I ask a lot of questions when I read the word of God. I'm like, why? I say to God, God, that doesn't make sense to me. That doesn't seem fair to me. If there wasn't some some kind of a bad choice or bad decision both by him or his parents, then then how is it possible that you can justify allowing this man to be blind? But what happens is I stick myself inside of time. It's an unfortunate thing that you and I are locked into that. Remember, time is God's creation. He lives in eternity.

Time is something he's stuck inside of eternity. And because of that, we often think that this is as good as it gets. But as with everything with God, there's a purpose and a plan that is there. And God's plan was simply this. He said to his disciples, "It wasn't any of his parents' fault or his fault. It wasn't sin that it was in the equation. It was so that I could reveal my my power in his life. It was for this very moment that he was blind." I'm speaking to somebody today. There's a God who sees. And maybe miss maybe maybe maybe your circumstances there's a lot more at play than what you think. Maybe this is more about something that somebody else than just you.

Maybe maybe maybe the suffering you're going through has a kingdom purpose behind it. Maybe maybe God in his infinite wisdom has the ability to take what you have experienced to change somebody else's life. But that doesn't make make sense to me, Pastor Kevin. Why did I have to suffer? Well, here's I just want to remind you of something. You don't belong to yourself. But you were you were bought with a price at Calvary. We belong to him. And and God has this thing. He He's really good about being God. He kind of acts like he's God. He kind of acts like he's in control. And here's the thing. He doesn't usually ask our opinion about whether or not we think it's a good idea. He just knows his idea is a good idea.

See, when we get shortsighted and when we get selfish and self-focused, often times we can miss the very thing that God intends to be a powerful moment in life, not just for you, but for others because he receives his sight back. But not only that, the others around here realize that God has the power and ability to do things that we can't do. He was living for more than just a moment. Jesus was preparing not just to take care of what was going on from his past, but he was also setting him up for a future that he had set for him. And I wonder how many times we've allowed someone's past to determine what we believe about is possible for their future because we didn't value the man.

We didn't value the woman. Instead, we were too focused on the problem that they had in their life. But Jesus sees what he can do through them because God's grace has the re has the ability to reach down in some of life's most difficult circumstances and change the narrative back to a kingdom purpose and a kingdom plan. And it would have come to nothing had this person not been willing to be seen. Jesus saw him before he ever saw Jesus. Think about this. This this really speaks to me in this story. Remember this man was blind. He had had ability to see Jesus but Jesus seen him. In fact, go back to verse number one. Now, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man. Everybody say that he saw him.

He saw him. Jesus saw him before he could see Jesus. Jesus saw him. Did I tell you we have a God who sees you? Maybe maybe you having a hard time this morning. Maybe you grew up in a church and you drifted away. Maybe your faith's struggling. Maybe you spent the last few years trying to figure life out on your own. Or or perhaps you're sitting here this morning wondering whether or not God even knows you exist. But here's the wonderful, beautiful truth of this passage. You don't have to have everything figured out for Jesus to know where you are. You don't you don't have to be perfect in what you do. In fact, there's none of us in here are perfect. We're all flawed.

Every one of us have flaws. Every one of us have problems. Every one of us are sinners who who need the grace of God in our life. Long before this man ever saw the face of Jesus, Jesus already turned his attention towards him. And that's the good news because it reminds us that God's compassion is not limited by our circumstances. You're not too far gone that he can't see you. You're not so snowed under with bad decisions that God can't reach you. He sees you. He knows where you are. He knows what you're going through. He knows what you're facing. God sees you. Today, I'm reaching for somebody. This brings us to some what I feel like is important on this be the church Sunday is we cannot call oursel the church of Jesus Christ and constantly overlook the very people Jesus came to reach.

It's about people. Center point. It's about the hurting and those that are searching and those that have made mistakes and those who need hope because people desperately need to have an encounter with Jesus Christ. And I want this church I want centerpoint to always be a church where people are more important than appearances. Amen. We're where where compassion is greater than criticism. Where everybody who walks through those doors know this. They matter. They matter. You know why they matter? Because they belong to him. Because they because because every person is precious in his sight. We don't have to approve of everything that they've done in their life. But we need to recognize the value of their soul. Jesus never ignored the sin, but neither did he allow someone's condition to keep them from him being able to reach where they were at.

And ultimately, Jesus didn't just acknowledge the blind man's presence. He changed his life. Verse number seven. And he said to him, "Go wash in the pool." So he went and washed and came back seeing. What a remarkable moment. The man who spent his entire life in darkness all of a sudden had light enter his life. Why? Because Jesus saw him, because he wasn't a nobody. He may have felt his whole entire life feeling like he was ignoring. As I said already, if you read that story, they ignored him. They didn't even realize it was truly him. They were asking, "So, is this the man?" Yes, it was the man. But Jesus saw him from the very beginning because that's what he does. It is not does not matter your circumstances or your condition.

He sees you. I need you. I can't move forward in this message until you acknowledge that he sees you right now. He knows what you faced in your life. He knows what you've went through. He's known every hurt, every heartache, every sorrow, every pain, every disappointment, every failure, every mistake you've ever made, every label that's ever been put on you. He sees it all. Yet, he still loves you. He still sees you. He still desires to have a relationship with you. You've not disqualified yourself. You've never been more qualified than you are right now. You've never been more qualified for him than you are right now. Why? Because his love has never changed. His opinion about you has never changed. You have maybe changed your mind in your opinion, but God hasn't changed his mind.

He's forever the same yesterday, today, and forever. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you with a pursuing love, with a passion love, with a burning love, with a desire that took him to Calvary. And he died on a cross. Why? Because he loves you. And he sees you. He knows where you are right now. God sees you even when you're in the wilderness. Genesis 16:13. And she called on the name of the Lord who spoke to her. You are the God who sees. One of the most remarkable stories in the scriptures. The story of a woman named Hagar. And to fully appreciate what happened to her, you have to have a little bit of an understanding of her circumstances.

Hagar was an Egyptian servant in the household of Abraham and Sarah. She really didn't have much control over her life. She was living in a culture where servants were treated more like property than people. and she found herself caught in the middle of a family situation that she never asked to be a part of. God had promised Abraham that he would have a son and through that son that God would establish his covenant relationship and there would be a nation that would come about. But the problem was Abraham and Sarah were getting older and the promises not still come to pass. And like many of us sometimes they felt like it was a good idea to perhaps that God needed a little bit of help.

I was just going to give you a little hint today. God doesn't need help. And we get ourselves in a whole lot of trouble when we feel like, you know what, God, I know what you said you were going to do and it hasn't happened yet. Maybe, just maybe, I got an idea that will work. You should already stop right there every time and just say, no, it's not a good idea. Abraham's looking at Sarah and he's thinking to himself, you know what? We're not as young as we used to be. Chastity and I have these conversations now. Every day I get up and something new cracks. I sound like a box of fiddle fat when I get out of the bed. I'm like, is this supposed to make that noise?

You know, you sit there now and you're like like you got to kind of warm it up. I'm like an old diesel engine now. I need some glow plugs. Takes me a minute to get moving. Now, some of you that are older than me are like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whippers snapper." I know. Hey, I'm just living where I am. That's all I can talk about. All right. But Abraham and Sarah, you know, he's 100, she's 90, and they got this thing and it's not coming to pass. and they decide she comes in and says, "Hey, I got this idea." I got my servant Hagar. Won't you don't you go into her and we can have a kid that way? Maybe we'll get this whole thing started.

Now, I I don't know the particulars why. I wasn't a part of the conversation. I have to draw my own conclusions, which sometimes is good and sometimes I don't know. But I find it interesting that he's thinking to himself, "Well, maybe you don't got it anymore, but maybe I still do. it. I'm not I'm not trying to to stir anything up. I'm just Do you read the scriptures? It seems there well they come up to this this plan. They decided, hey, let's try this out. I want you to know sometimes, men, you shouldn't be so eager to depart from the plan of God. It doesn't say that he fought this process, Max. It doesn't say that he said, you know, it doesn't say that he's like, you know, I don't think this is a good idea.

It doesn't say that she had to persuade him. just said that they had a conversation and all of a sudden he's like, "Okay, I don't know. Maybe if you think if you think it's a good idea, I might I'll be willing." Yeah. I don't know how this went, Joanne. I'm just over there going, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This the guy, no, bad idea." Yeah. God doesn't need help. Sometimes our greatest problems begin when we become impatient with God's promises. As you might imagine, this arrangement didn't work out very well. Haggar became pregnant. Tensions developed in the household and eventually Sarah began treating Hagar harshly and she ran away. That's where we pick up the story as I read to you in Genesis 16:6.

And when Sarah dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Think about her situation for just a minute. Hagar, she's pregnant. She's alone. She's running in the wilderness without knowing her future and what holds on. She has no clear plan. She has no guarantee of safety. She she doesn't know where she's going to end up. and she she has no idea how she's going to provide for the child. She's been mistreated by the very people who should have been looking out for her. I'm going to say that again because I'm reaching for somebody today. She had been mistreated by the very people who were supposed to look out for her. And she's sitting in the wilderness trying to figure out what happens next. And I wonder how many people in this room have felt that before in their life.

some some piece, some part of this story, all of a sudden it just stings a little bit because you've felt that before, too. Life dealt you an unfair hand. The people who were supposed to protect you dropped the ball. Now you're having to run away from a harsh, difficult situation that you didn't set in motion. You didn't really have an option. You were not you're not asked your opinion. You're just dealing with the reality that you've been given. And you find yourself on the run. and you find yourself sitting in the wilderness all alone wondering how am I even going to take care of myself much less this new addition that's been given to me now she's there maybe you've never wandered into a literal desert but you know what it's like to find yourself in that season a marriage that isn't what you hoped it would be a diagnosis that has turned your world upside down a financial struggle that seems to have no end or a relationship that is just falling apart sometimes the hardest part of being in the wilderness isn't that you're facing the wilderness but this fact that you feel like you're doing it all alone.

Anybody know what I'm talking about today? Anybody ever felt this? But notice what happens next. Verse 7. Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. I I love those words. He found her. She wasn't standing in the sanctuary. She wasn't at the altar. She wasn't in the prayer room. She wasn't in a place where anybody would have expected a divine encounter. She was alone. But yet God knew exactly where she was at. Why? Because he's the God who sees. And he's the God who knows. You may have lost your way, but God has not lost sight of where you are. You may not know where you are, but he knows exactly where you are. And I promise you, if you'll call out to him, he will meet you in your darkest hour.

He'll meet you in your worst mistake. He'll meet you when everybody else has walked away from you. I promise you, you're not in the wilderness by yourself. There's a God who sees you there. Not only that, but something else happened that I find is beautiful in this passage. If you go back to verse number eight, he said, "Hagar." Notice the angel addressed her by name. He not only knew where she was at, but he knew her name. God knows your name. Of the 8 billion plus people in the world, he knows your name. He's a personal God. He's not a distant. He's not far away. He knows you. And when he asked for her name, he it was because he was coming in close.

But here, look, look at what was taking place. He asked her where she had come from and where she was going. It wasn't because God needed directions. Okay? There's a reason for everything that's in the word of God. You have to ask yourself, why did he ask that question? He was inviting her to acknowledge her circumstances. See, sometimes God needs you to be honest with yourself because we have a way of painting the picture that isn't always an accurate depiction of where we are. Sometimes, sometimes, guys, we lie to ourselves. Yeah, I was talking about you. Yeah. In fact, a lot of times we're really good at lying to ourselves. Like we we'll point out lies in society. We'll point out lies to other people in life, but but we are very hesitant to point out the lie we tell oursel.

But it's what God was doing is he was trying to get her to acknowledge where she was at. God wasn't lost. He showed up. He found her. He knew her by name. But he's asking her, "Hey, explain to me where you're at. Explain to me where you're going. I need you to be observant enough to understand your circumstances." Why? Because he was trying to make sure she understood the reality of her situation. Because sometimes before God begins to deal with where we're going, he wants us to be honest with where we are. So she told him she was fleeing Sarah, she didn't pretend everything was wonderful. She didn't try to convince God that she had everything under control. She simply acknowledged her situation. And I think there's something important for us to learn from that.

You don't have to pretend you're doing better than you are when you come into the presence of God. In fact, the best thing you can do is just be honest to just come down before him and say, "God, I'm a hot mess. I'm broken. I need you, Lord. I'm not going to pretend I'm better than I am because God, if anybody knows me, you know me. You know where I've been. You know what I'm facing. You know what I'm going through. God, why would I lie to you? Why would I be less than honest before you? But God, here's where I am. I'm running from my life. I'm running because I was being mistreated. I'm out here in the middle of the wilderness. I don't know where I'm supposed to go.

God, I need you. And God showed up in the very moment when she needed him the most. We spend so much of our lives trying to convince everybody that everything's fine, right? That's what we do in the south. How you doing? Fine. Liar. Liar. Pants on fire. The real The reality is we ask, we don't really want to know. You're supposed to say fine. Don't say anything but fine. If you say anything but fine, now I'm uncomfortable. But not with God. If you're going to be honest with anybody, be honest with God. Be honest with yourself. Tell him where you are. Tell him what you're going through. Tell him what you need. Somebody needs to grab a hold of this truth today because the God who knows everything about you is still willing to meet you where you are because he sees you.

The angel of the Lord speaks to Hagar about her future and the son she will bear. And he gives instructions and a promise. And after the encounter, Hagar does something remarkable. She gives God a name. She says, "You are the God who sees." Somebody grab that today and take it home with you. There's a God who sees you. He knows where you are. Somebody take that truth from him. Think about that. Hagar had been treated as though she didn't matter. Like she had no choice. Like her life was has was was was of no value. And God says, "I not only know your name, but I know where you are." Then she acknowledged the one who sees me. Now I see him. It was only after all of that unfolded in her life was she able to see that there was a God who cares about her.

Maybe, just maybe, where you are today is is in the exact moment when you can see that there's a God who's been with you the entire time because you were too concerned with all that was going wrong in your life, you missed out on the fact that the one thing you had going right, and that was a God who sees where you are. Turn around and embrace him. can turn around and say, "God, I don't I don't have everything the way I want it to be, but I know that you see me, and you know where I am, and I see what you did in the word of God, and I'm going to claim on to that that that can be my reality, too." He's a God who sees.

I wonder if there isn't somebody here this morning who needs to make that same discovery in their life. A God that sees a future beyond the circumstances that you're facing right now. I don't want us to misunderstand this story. God didn't immediately remove her from the difficult situation that she had going on in her life. In fact, he instructed her to return and her journey would continue to involve challenges. But he gave her something that changed the way she could face those circumstances because she knew she was not forgotten. And here's the truth. Sometimes before God changes what's happening around us, he changes what we understand about him. Hagar entered in the wilderness believing that she was alone. But she left knowing that I have a God who sees me.

But what do you do? What do you do, Pastor Kevin, when when you're facing these circumstances and and you're in the wilderness, but you you just can't see him? That's beautiful for Hagar, right? She had this moment. She She left her difficulty and she headed out into the wilderness and she gets out there and right in the middle of her pity party, an angel shows up and says, "Haggar, what's going on in your life?" Like, Pastor Kevin, that's great, but I'm going to tell you right now, that has never happened to me. What do I do, Pastor Kevin? Well, thankfully that isn't the only story in the Bible. Thankfully, we have more to go on because there was somebody else who had a difficult time in their life.

Cuz what happens when we cannot see him? What happens when we prayed and nothing seems to change? And we've been tested and the answer hasn't come yet. And we know what the Bible says about God, but we cannot understand what he means when that comes to applying it to my life. But there's another man in scripture who discovered the same truth under very different circumstances. His name was Job. The word says he was a righteous man. He was doing things right. So in the justification of why bad things happen to good people, this story doesn't fit, because it actually says he was perfect. He was doing the good stuff. Right? There there's a few of you good people in in in the in the sanctuary today.

Then there's a whole bunch of us heathens, but there's a few of you good ones in here. There's a few of you that the worst thing that you did was was, you know, have have one bad thought in traffic one day one time. This is Job. The word of God says that he was doing it all right. You read the Job chapter one, the beginning, like the first seven or eight verses in there, you're like, man, this dude is like he's there. He's like got it going on. He you draw this narrative in your mind that, you know, he he dresses right, he talks right, he walks right, he's he's taken care of just in case his kids ever mess up, he's trying to to intercede on their behalf.

He's trying to lay it all right. He's like he's going he's going line by line doing it just the way he's supposed to do. He's he's he's good until he's not. Job is a righteous man who loved God yet experienced suffering that most of us can't even hardly imagine because he loses his possessions. He loses his livelihood. He loses his children. He loses his health just like that. It wasn't a progression. It all unfolds in one day. How do you reconcile when your whole world falls apart in one day? Even even his even the guys that were showing up that's supposed to be, you know, his his support group, they turned out to be less than supportive. They turn out to be the the name it blame it group.

Yeah. If you read through it, I mean, they they're like they sat there quiet for a couple days and you think these these these are some good friends to have and then a couple chapters in, sister Sue, I'm like, I don't need them jerks in my life. You know, they they try to say, you must have done something wrong. Nobody nobody experiences this kind of stuff and is right. So uh we we always thought you were a good guy, Joe, but evidently you had some secrets we didn't know about because that's the reason you're going through what you're going through. Because again, we got to have a handle, right? We need to have that handle. So what do you do? What do you do when you're praying?

What do you do when you're doing everything you know to do, yet it doesn't seem like God hears you or that even cares about you? Perhaps the most difficult part of Job's suffering was that he couldn't understand why God was doing this. Have you ever been there? You know God's real. You believe his word. You've experienced the goodness. But suddenly life takes you at a turn you were not expected. And you find yourself asking, "God, where are you at?" Have you ever asked that? I'm going to be honest with you. I've had that same thing come out of my mouth in prayer. God, where are you? One time I could feel you so strong. At one time I could just breathe and and I felt your presence around me.

Lord, it's been a long time since I've even felt you near God. Where are you at? I'm speaking to somebody today. Listen to what he declared. I love this. In Job 23, verse number eight, he says, "Look, I go forward." Everybody say, "Forward." Forward. But he is not there. And backwards. Say, "Backward." "But I cannot perceive him." When he works on the left, the left, I cannot behold him." When he turns to the right, everybody say, "Right. I cannot see him. I'm looking forward, I can't find God. I look backwards, I He's not there. I look on my left, I don't I can't see him. He's on the right. I Every direction I know to go. I don't know what to do. I I can't find him.

What do you do? What do you do, Pastor Kevin? There comes a time in your life when this very scenario will unfold for you. And you need to remember what Job said in the next verse, verse number 10. But he knows. But he knows. I can't find him. Like, I promise you. I promise you, if you live long enough, you're going to experience a moment like this in your life. You're going to have a moment like Job. And leave that verse up there. You got to have a moment like this where where you're going to say, "I'm looking. I'm going I'm doing all the things I know to do." I go, "For I found you here before in front of me, but you're not in front of me right now."

And there's been times, God, when I had to turn around and you were you were behind me. I had walked away from you, but I've turned around, God, and you're not behind me. So, it wasn't about turning around and and realizing I was walking away. I turned around, you're not there. I looked to my left, but maybe I took a detour. I looked to my left, but I don't I don't see you there. I went to my right and you're not there. Well, what do I do? What do I do? Then I have to remind myself of what I know about him, not what I feel, not even what I see. I got to go back to what I know to be true. He knows where I am.

I'm I'm reaching for somebody today on this Bea Church Sunday. And maybe you can't feel him. Maybe you feel like you've lost your way. You've looked left, you look right, you look forward, you look backwards, but you can't see God. But I need to remind you, he knows where you're at. He knows you're in the sanctuary today. I'm I'm trying to encourage you to muster up a little bit of hope and a little bit of faith. Remind yourself of what the word of God says. He knows where you're at. He knows what you're going through. He still sees you. I love that declaration. He knows the way I take. I may not know where God is, but God knows where I'm at. My inability to see him does not mean God has lost sight of me.

God doesn't simply see us so he can observe our struggles. But what I found, and I'm I'm getting ready to land the plane today. I seen this show up in the New Testament in the life of Jesus. I seen something that was there that all of a sudden I started connecting to a church service that was a little bit different than just an individual. Something I feel like special even for what we got going on today in this room is that as his notoriety and his fame began to spread and as he was working his miracles and doing all these mighty wonderful things in life, people started following after him. He would show up and there would be crowds that were there and there was there was language around those meetings that I found interesting to me.

You couldn't just dismiss stuff that was said about those moments that were not said at any other time. In fact, I'll show you a couple. Matthew 9:36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion. In Matthew 14:14, and when Jesus went out, he saw the great multitudes, he was moved with compassion and healed their sick. See, there's something about when we gather together in a setting like this. And there's some of us in the room today that life's good. Like we came in today and we were worshiping God and we were thanking him for his many blessings and his goodness. We were thanking him that we got up today and we're feeling good and I can still move and dance around and God is good and there's no cracking over here and no cracking over here and the family was good.

Nobody got in a fight this morning. Nobody burned the biscuits. You got a full night's sleep. Your ring says your sleep score is 98. You're just like you're on top. So there's some of y'all in here and you that's how you feel. So you're you're praising God and you're worshiping and you're just spinning and dancing. Everything's good. And then there's some of you who you're you barely got in here. I mean, you woke up fighting devils. You went to bed fighting devils. You're doing your best just to train maintain your emotional stability in your life. But we've gathered here today and begin to worship God. And I feel like the scripture is still true. He is moved with compassion. Why? There's something about when we get together with a with the intent of touching him that causes him to say, "You know what?

I want to go to where you are." So, I've I've been telling you from the very beginning that God sees you. He knows where you're at. He knows what you're facing in your life. But there's something special about allowing his compassion to reach out to you today. if it's in this building already. As I told you before, I already got text messages about people receiving the Holy Ghost before we got done with the song service today. Why? Because when we begin to praise and worship him, he's drawn to that. And when he comes into this house, he brings with him every ability to take care of every problem and circumstance and situation that is in this room. He's not surprised by where you are. He's not surprised what anybody brought into this room today.

He didn't say, "Oh, I didn't see that coming." God knows where you are. He knows what you faced and what you've been through. And yet he still showed up today to reach out to you to say, "I see you. I know where you are. I know what you've been going through. I still love you as much as I've ever loved you." And I wonder if there's anybody today who's been a little bit weary, a little bit tired of going through life, carrying those heavy burdens. And maybe today you love to lay it down. And I want you to know there's a God who's willing to take it from you. He said, "Cast all your cares on me and he'll handle it. He'll take care of it."

So I'm trying to motivate you today to let you know that God loves you. He's here for you. He'll take care of you. He sees you. Even if you can't see him and you can't feel him, he knows the way you take. That's what his word says. He's aware of where you are today in this room. He's such a good God. As I bring this message to a close, I want to remind you of something on this Be the Church Sunday where we've invited our friends and our neighbors and our co-workers and our family members to join us. I want you to understand something about why we do this. It's not simply just trying to fill the building, but we're trying to introduce people to Jesus.

We're trying to bring you into an atmosphere where you can feel his presence, maybe in a way you've never felt it before. And because here's what I know. When you get into his presence, it's so disarming. It's just you come in and all of a sudden you find yourself like, I don't know why I just feel like I'm emotional. It's okay. The Holy Ghost is a comforter. Sometimes you just feel comfortable like I don't I don't know why I'm I feel that way. I'm here to tell you why. It's the presence of the almighty God. I want you to understand something. You need Jesus and he is here. Everybody matters to God. And I don't know what brought you here this morning. Maybe somebody invited you and and they wouldn't stop.

They wouldn't shut up. So you're like, "Yeah, I'll go." If that's you, I'm happy you're here. And I want you to know Jesus loves you and he sees you. He knows where you are and what you've been going through. Whatever brought you here, I believe that God can use this moment to speak into your life. Maybe you've been walking through a wilderness like Hagar. Maybe you've been facing questions like Job. Or perhaps you're like the blind man. You've spent years of your life feeling like you're overlooked and forgotten. I want you to hear me today. You're not invisible to God. He sees your every pain, every disappointment, every mistake, every failure, every battle that you have went through like nobody else knows that you've been fighting.

He loves you enough to meet you right where you are. My last scripture for you, Romans 5:8, but God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's how much you matter to God. He had no guarantee that you would love him in return or even desire to know who he is. Yet, in spite of that, he still died for you. Yes. He didn't wait until you became good enough to deserve his attention. He didn't do that. He didn't. He didn't come to this world. He went to Calvary and gave his life so that you could experience forgiveness and restoration and live a new life that you could become, as the Bible says, a new creature in him.

That's his desire. So, I want to bring you back here with one final thought. Numbers chapter 6, God told the priest to speak a blessing over Israel. Part of that blessing was that the Lord would make his face to shine upon them. What a beautiful picture of God's favor and his love and his mercy and his peace. But here's what I want you to understand. God has already turned his attention towards you. My question for you today is, will you turn your heart towards him? He's already done the hard work. He knows where you are. He sees you, what you're going through. And I just feel like as I bring this to a close today, I feel like there's more than one that are here to and you felt alone.

You felt overlooked. You felt abandoned. You felt you felt used and abused. You felt trapped and all alone and like nobody cares. And I want you to know that could not be further from the truth. There may be nobody on this planet that cares about you, but I know one that does, and his name is Jesus. So, as you close your eyes with me, if you're comfortable doing so, just kind of bow your head as we come to this most special moment in the service. Maybe you need forgiveness. Maybe you need healing. Maybe you need to come back to a relationship that you once had with Jesus. Or maybe it's just strength you need to keep walking through the season you don't understand.

I invite you to an altar today because the God who sees you is also the God who can save you, heal you, restore you, and fill you. Lord, in this moment, I surrender myself to you, God. I have delivered the burden you laid on my heart to speak to your church today. God, I know that there are hurting and broken people in this room. I know that you gave me this word for specific individuals here today. But God, I pray as a church body that we could evaluate where we are. God, are we keeping our hearts turned towards you because your face is shining on us? You've given us your love. You've given us your promises. You've given us your spirit.

You filled us with it. I pray today that we could do a little self-reflecting that we can bring oursel back to a right place and a right relationship with you, God. I pray for courage and boldness today in this place to take the next right step to move towards you in Jesus name. This altar is open. I invite all that wants to come. Whatever your circumstances are, whatever you're facing, whatever you need, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is in this place today. Let us come pray with you. It's prayer time, church. Let's find a place for just a minute to pray to God.