“ To really see someone, whether they be a loved one or a complete stranger, is to give that person a special blessing.”
it be that Hagar was as blessed as Abraham? Written off and no longer useful after giving birth to Ishmael, she encountered an angel, leading her to call God El Roi,“ the God who sees me”( Genesis 16:13). In so doing, she transcends the difficulties of life by partaking of the divine nature.
The greatest desire we can have for someone else is that they would know the blessing of God, to feel truly seen by their creator; that, like Hagar, they would awaken to the reality that God sees them, knows them, and loves them inestimably. Of course, God has carried this love for each person since before their life on earth even began— it’ s just that not everyone wakes up to it in their lifetime. This is an absolute tragedy and is the driving motivation for mission— we are privileged to introduce people to the love of God expressed in friendship with Jesus:“ To really see someone, whether they be a loved one or a complete stranger, is to give that person a special blessing.” Hurry doesn’ t just harm me; it stops me from seeing people beyond either their use to me or their external appearance. Only when we slow down can we see someone. And only when we see someone can we become their friend. And only when we have become their friend are we truly able to introduce them to our friend Jesus.
We saw this transpire during a particularly sad season of our life, when we were grieving the loss of a dear friend who had left gangs, drugs, and Islam to follow Jesus but had tragically died in a car crash. We were devastated and had closed Cru62( the ministry we run to help people involved with gangs and drug addiction find freedom in Jesus) to slow down and recuperate. One of the young men who had been living with us had stolen a considerable amount of stuff, including all we’ d had left of our friend’ s possessions. And the final two had left and relapsed hard on crystal meth. We were heartbroken, and it felt like everything we’ d been working toward had both blown up and imploded at the same time.( We have subsequently gotten more used to this feeling because the longer we do what we do, the more we’ re able to see redemptive opportunity in the crises.) But what this did mean was that we had space in our home that was usually occupied... One night Sarah had a dream about a mother and daughter needing a home. It seemed clear that God was reminding us to continue to be hospitable despite being in a difficult season, although we didn’ t know any mothers and daughters needing a home at that time.
“ To really see someone, whether they be a loved one or a complete stranger, is to give that person a special blessing.”
It was a couple of months later that an acquaintance turned up on our doorstep in his Toyota Quantum. As he got out and opened the sliding door, he just looked at us and said,“ You were the only people I could think of— can you help?” Sitting there were a woman and a young girl— a mother and daughter— huddled together in the back of the van. Without missing a beat, Sarah told the mother that we’ d been waiting for them— God had spoken to her, and of course they could stay with us. The mother broke down in tears at the thought of God hearing her cries
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