This morning, during my devotions I made a new discovery. We know that God's word doesn't change, but we see new things when we read it because we've changed. Hopefully, it means we are growing in faith, grace, and our knowledge of Him. So, even when we read a familiar passage like I did this morning, we see new things.
I ended up in Genesis 22 this morning. This is a super familiar passage to me as back in my "ministry" days I taught from it often. We have Abraham offering up his son, Isaac, as a definitive act of worship. After the angel came and rescued Isaac, Abraham declares that God provides. However, when I looked up the Hebrew for that phrase in the Strong's Concordance, it says something a little different. Now our old definition and interpretation is not wrong - God provides. But it goes a little deeper than that.
The actual phrase in the concordance says, Jehovah will see (to it) or Jehovah-Jireh. It definitely means that God provides - just as we've learned to confess and claim all these years. God is indeed our provider and we all could share testimonies to solidify this truth. But the initial phrase - "Jehovah will see (to it) - is what caught my eye. Because just a few chapters back Hagar had come to the same conclusion - God sees.
Here we have the Father of our Faith and a common slave girl both declaring that God sees. He saw the frightened and alone slave and caregiver, Hagar worried for her son. But God also sees Abraham in his most painful moment of obedience laying the promise of God on the altar at His request. We can be sure that God sees us as caregivers. He doesn't exclude the rich or the poor. Our socioeconomic standing doesn't influence whether He sees us or not. He doesn't pick and choose - He sees us all.
He knows when we have long nights that include 2:30 AM breathing treatments. He sees when we need to empty bedpans. (Let's be real here!) He sees when we are crying out to Him in despair. And He sees and understands when we trust Him with all our heart - when we have full understanding or no understanding. He is the ultimate Seer. And He gets us.
Today, as I go about my caregiving tasks, I'll remind myself that God sees it all. Even the hard parts. He doesn't stand outside a closed door and wait for us to get done. He's in it with us - He sees us do each caring task for our loved ones. And I think He may celebrate just a little bit because we look a lot like Him. I will invite Him to walk through this day with me - will you join me?
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