"He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees." Psalm 10:11
(Shayne playing peek-a-boo..thinking he can't be seen. Photo by T. Gardner..best daycare provider in the world!)
Sometimes you just gotta close your eyes and look through eyes of faith.
Especially when God's given you a promise and what you have looks nothing like what God promised. Makes me think of Hagar. The maidservant of Sarai, who was shunned after becoming pregnant by Abram. Shunned by the very woman who caused all the madness. So she fled the meanness and the mayhem. (Read the backstory here.)
And she fled to a spring in the desert of all places. I love how God works. In her brokenness, He provided a bright spot. In her dry place, He provided a spring in the desert and that's where He spoke to her. A promise. "Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered." Genesis 16:13-14.
God saw Hagar. He saw her rejection. He saw her confusion. But none of that took away the promise that He held in His hand. Sometimes we confuse the desert with a forsaken promise. But God sees the desert as the springwell of promises. A place where promises pour forth like fresh water.
We get it twisted. Yet God never does.
God sees me.
God sees you.
And if we stop running long enough, we'll see the springs in our own deserts.