Day 5: Seen People Go See
Day 5: Seen People Go See
SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 25:37-40 (NIV)
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you...' The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"
DEVOTIONAL REFLECTION
Hagar's story doesn't end with her feeling better about herself. It ends with a well.
Beer Lahai Roi - "the well of the Living One who sees me" - became a real place, with a real name, that people used for generations. Hagar's encounter with God didn't stay a private feeling locked inside her. It became something visible enough that other people asked about it, and something durable enough that Isaac would later live near that very well.
That's worth noticing this week, because it's easy to let "God sees me" become a comfortable, private truth that stops with you. It's real. It's necessary. But it isn't the whole story, and it was never meant to be.
If you've spent this week being honest about the walls you built, letting yourself be found instead of performing, hearing your own name instead of your label, and remembering what it cost Jesus to see you all the way to the cross - now comes the turn. People who have genuinely been seen by Jesus start to become people who see like Jesus.
Think about who's stocking the shelves in the background of your own week. The coworker nobody thanks. The family member who's become "background noise" because you stopped really listening years ago. The person at church who serves every week and whom nobody has asked a real question in months. The neighbor everyone's decided is difficult, without anyone finding out why. Jesus said plainly that when we see and serve people like that, we are actually seeing and serving him.
You don't have to fix anyone or save anyone. Hagar wasn't saved by being seen by another person - she was saved by being seen by God, and then she went and told everyone what had happened to her. That's the model. See people the way you were seen. Say their name instead of their role. Ask the second question instead of walking past. And when it matters, point them past yourself to the God who found you first.
You were a Hagar until God found you. Now go find someone else who needs to know they've been seen.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Lord, thank you for finding me this week - in my hiding, in my labels, in my wounds, at the cross. Now send me. Give me eyes like yours for the people I walk past without noticing. Let my life be evidence of what it looks like to be seen by El Roi. Use me to help someone else believe they are not invisible to you. Amen.
TODAY'S PRACTICE
Choose one specific person this week who tends to go unnoticed - by you or by others. Learn something true about them. Ask them a real question. Let them know, in whatever way fits, that they are seen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 25:37-40 (NIV)
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you...' The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"
DEVOTIONAL REFLECTION
Hagar's story doesn't end with her feeling better about herself. It ends with a well.
Beer Lahai Roi - "the well of the Living One who sees me" - became a real place, with a real name, that people used for generations. Hagar's encounter with God didn't stay a private feeling locked inside her. It became something visible enough that other people asked about it, and something durable enough that Isaac would later live near that very well.
That's worth noticing this week, because it's easy to let "God sees me" become a comfortable, private truth that stops with you. It's real. It's necessary. But it isn't the whole story, and it was never meant to be.
If you've spent this week being honest about the walls you built, letting yourself be found instead of performing, hearing your own name instead of your label, and remembering what it cost Jesus to see you all the way to the cross - now comes the turn. People who have genuinely been seen by Jesus start to become people who see like Jesus.
Think about who's stocking the shelves in the background of your own week. The coworker nobody thanks. The family member who's become "background noise" because you stopped really listening years ago. The person at church who serves every week and whom nobody has asked a real question in months. The neighbor everyone's decided is difficult, without anyone finding out why. Jesus said plainly that when we see and serve people like that, we are actually seeing and serving him.
You don't have to fix anyone or save anyone. Hagar wasn't saved by being seen by another person - she was saved by being seen by God, and then she went and told everyone what had happened to her. That's the model. See people the way you were seen. Say their name instead of their role. Ask the second question instead of walking past. And when it matters, point them past yourself to the God who found you first.
You were a Hagar until God found you. Now go find someone else who needs to know they've been seen.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Who has become "background noise" in my life that I've stopped really seeing?
- Is there someone I've reduced to their role, their mistake, or what they can do for me?
- What would it look like this week to learn one name, ask one real question, or notice one person nobody else is noticing?
- Do I try to be the hero of other people's stories, or do I point them toward Jesus?
- Looking back over this whole week, what is the one thing God has shown me about being seen that I don't want to forget?
Lord, thank you for finding me this week - in my hiding, in my labels, in my wounds, at the cross. Now send me. Give me eyes like yours for the people I walk past without noticing. Let my life be evidence of what it looks like to be seen by El Roi. Use me to help someone else believe they are not invisible to you. Amen.
TODAY'S PRACTICE
Choose one specific person this week who tends to go unnoticed - by you or by others. Learn something true about them. Ask them a real question. Let them know, in whatever way fits, that they are seen.
Posted in Daily Devotional