I see you

It was two days before I was leaving to fly out of state, and I was stressed out. I still had packing to finish (which meant I first needed to start), tasks to finish for my photography business, last minute shopping to do, and everything seemed overwhelming. It was just one of those days - and it wasn't even noon yet.

I sat at the edge of our porch, scrubbing the dirt off my work boots, and I felt God's gentle reminder being whispered to me, “I see you.” I had read in my Bible the story of Hagar the morning before, and it was like a breath of fresh air to be reminded of this truth and see it applied to my own life. Hagar really had no voice in her circumstances – she was a slave, and was being abused and mistreated by her mistress. So she did the only thing that seemed reasonable – run away. But an angel of the Lord met her on the road, right where she was at. He told her to go back to her mistress; back to the exact same circumstances she had just fled from. But this time, she went back with this promise written on her heart, “You are the God who sees me.”

And this was the same promise that God whispered to my heart, “I am the God who sees you.” It didn't change the circumstances of my day – I still had a long list that needed to be accomplished. No, nothing changed about the day...except my outlook. All it took was that simple reminder: that God knows, and cares about, each detail of my day. He sees my stress, my frustration, my excitement, my joy.

I can't quite explain it, but the peace and joy that flowed out of that truth put a song in my heart.