Feeling invisible is one of the core emptinesses of life. Because our Creator God designed us to be complete in intimate relationship with Him, we yearn for this closeness, sometimes without knowing this is what we yearn for.

Many stories in the Bible feature a main character and a supporting-role character. I admit I often overlook the messages of the supporting-role characters. For example, the Egyptian slave Hagar is a supporting-role character in the Bible (Genesis 16). While the spotlight has always been on Abraham’s wife Sarah and her situation of childlessness, the picture of God’s mercy reflected in Hagar’s story brings us the hope that we are not invisible to God in our predicaments. That God sees us. That God reaches out to us in our loneliness. That God is a personal God. That God knows our names.

Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave, becomes pregnant as a forced solution to the predicament of Abraham’s and Sarah’s impatience to have an heir. Not waiting for God’s plan, Sarah rushes ahead and pushes Hagar into a situation that leaves her pregnant by Abraham, alone, and despised by her jealous owner. Hagar feels that she has no options and decides to run away. When God visits her in the wilderness, she confesses that she is trying to escape an untenable situation.

We all run away in various ways, especially when we feel abandoned and invisible. One of the obvious “go-to” solutions is to put much distance between ourselves and the problem-causers. Another is to seek solace elsewhere. We get overwhelmed with fear, anger, loneliness, lack of support, and friendlessness. Hagar felt these emotions as she was pinned in by her position as a slave. But, God saw her in her misery. He came to her and asked her two great questions: 1) “Where have you come from?” and 2) “Where are you going?”

While infertility was not Hagar’s specific dilemma, the isolation and sadness of feeling invisible in her situation was something that is a shared feeling among women who face infertility like Sarah. What Hagar discovered was that she was not alone. She was pursued by a loving Father God who would not leave her in the wilderness. A gracious God who uniquely communicated His care for Hagar and met her at the point of her desperation – this is Who God is.

While Sarah seems like the central character in the story of God’s promises to Abraham, Hagar gives us a glimpse of God’s redemptive purposes in a way that is very relatable. We all struggle with invisibility. We all feel like no one really knows us or gets us. Even our families and friends don’t really know us or understand us. Nobody seems to empathize with us in our situations. But, God does.

And God intervenes. Genesis 16:7-9 says, “The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shut. And he said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ ‘I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,’ she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’ “

“Where have you come from?” What a great question! God invites us to come to Him with our stuff – our past, our worries, our fears, our tears, our insecurities, our perplexing questions, our circumstances. Hagar silently answers that she is invisible and nobody sees her pain. She thinks she is cornered with no way out. She needs grace. She needs understanding. She needs something that Abraham and Sarah can’t provide. She needs something that people can’t provide.

And then God changes the narrative for Hagar. “Where are you going?” God cares about Hagar’s journey. Hagar recognizes God’s voice. And when He asks this question, Hagar processes her answer with Him in prayer. She is no longer invisible. God has seen her and has communicated with her. Likewise, we can contemplate what we think are the only answers to our desperate situations while God can be trusted to gently lead us to join Him in His larger purposeful plan. God’s answers may seem unexpected. Even impossible. But, Hagar was assured that she was not invisible to God in her pain. God communicated with her.

In Genesis 16:11, the angel of the Lord confirms “the Lord has heard of your misery” and, in Genesis 16:13, Hagar says, ” I have now seen the One who sees me.” God answers prayer.

Genesis 16:9 says, “…Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” Hagar does return to Abraham’s household with renewed purpose. She has heard from the Lord God and she is secure in what He has told her, even though it will be difficult. She is still a slave, but has a renewed vision. Life will still be challenging. She will have a son – Ishmael. She knows God is with her and that she is not alone. She knows she is no longer invisible and that God has spoken to her.

While waiting with perseverance on God’s timing and plans, like Hagar, we can be sure that God sees our situations and sees us. We can be sure He cares. We can be sure He is at work to bring about His good purposes, even in our desperate situations. And most importantly, we are not invisible. We are known to God. God continues to care specifically about us – where we have been and where we are going.