Have you ever walked into a room and tried to be invisible? Maybe, you have slipped into the back row at a conference or a church hoping no one sees you. Have there been other times when you wonder why no one is noticing you? It seems that no matter what you do you are unfairly overlooked.

Adam and Eve tried to hide from God when they sinned in the Garden of Eden. They were ashamed and didn’t want to face God, but he didn’t let them get away with it. He saw what they had done, knew where they were and called them on it.

Do you remember Hagar, in the story of Abraham and Sarah? The story can be found in Genesis 16. God promised Abraham that he would make him the father of many nations. Sarah thought she was barren. She got impatient and didn’t wait for God’s timing. She sent her husband in to Hagar, her handmaiden, to have a child so she could build her family in her own way. This was not God’s plan, so when Hagar became pregnant, she started to despise Sarah, and when Sarah responded harshly to her, Hagar ran. God sent an angel to find her near a spring in the desert. He told her to return to Sarah and that he would give her many descendants. Genesis 16:13 says, “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.’ ”

God tells us in his word that he sees and cares for the birds so we can rest assured that we are valuable to him. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31) (NIV)

Adam and Eve hid in their shame, and God found them. Hagar fled her circumstances and found a God that truly saw her. As we grow, instead of hiding, hopefully, we will run into the arms of a God who sees where we are and meets us there.

“‘Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:24) (NIV)