The God Who Sees
Week Thirty
July 20, 2025
In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain.”
— Psalm 11:1 (NIV)
Have you ever gotten bad advice from a well-intentioned friend? King David had. “Run for your life!” his shook-up friends said. The advice given was understandable, given the opposition of the enemy. When we walk in the purposes of God we will face resistance. I guarantee it. Our natural response may be to run, to set aside the baton and let someone else take it up for us. When we feel like this, we do well to run to the one who is in charge, the one who sees all from his heavenly habitation.
I once had a dream that I was at my grandparents’ house in Milford, Massachusetts (think heritage here) and that my father was leaning out of the second story window, where my grandmother would hang laundry to dry, yelling at my younger brother. My brother was below in the yard. Think conflict and broken relationship. My gaze then shifted away from this scene to the sky, and I saw, centered above between my brother and my father, two eyes; they were God’s eyes, and he was watching.
He is the God who sees, and he sees your situation. Whether it is affliction, conflict, emotional struggles, health issues, or betrayal, God is on his throne in his house and he sees it all — from a temporal perspective and from a behind-the-scenes spiritual perspective. God sees the what and the why and will take it in hand. So, you have permission to be encouraged.
He sees us when we’re at our best and when we’re at our worst. Remember Nathaniel under the fig tree? It’s very possible he was kicking back, reading Scripture, maybe even reading psalm 10, “But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted.” Jesus saw this man with no guile: “I saw you under the fig tree…” ¹ Remember Peter’s denial? Cock crowing, regret rising, bitter tears welling; worst moment ever. But Jesus’ gaze was upon him, not with disdain or upbraiding, but holding him in his view with compassion and love. Jesus sees you when you triumph and when you crash. His eyes are locked on to you, holding out a hope and a future.
Now, back to my brother and my father. Good is not what my brother would now call his relationship with our Dad; “good” falls short. He calls it great. He calls it healed. The God who sees saw to that. And my Dad? Well, when I asked him if he minded me sharing this dream his response carried the same excitement that all of us would carry when Miracle Worker of Galilee brings healing — “Absolutely. Use it as a witness of what our Lord can do.”
I didn’t mention this, but in my dream, just seeing God’s eyes, knowing that he knew this situation, made everything ok. I experienced that peace that surpasses all understanding and guards our hearts and our minds, in Christ. I pray the same for you, that the peace that comes from knowing the God who sees will steady your heart in each and every storm.
Monday
July 21, 2025
So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
— Genesis 16:13 (ESV)
God sees the plight of every suffering person. There are an estimated eight billion people living on this planet, and each life is laid bare before him - every hurt, every struggle, every disease, every sin, every intention, every rebellion, every death, every story, fully seen by the holy gaze of a loving God. Such a view would overwhelm any one of us and stir up emotions that would quickly overtake us. But not so with God. This God who sees all the evil in this world is also the God who reaches down to us and offers us his hand, holding out hope and salvation in Christ Jesus. Instead of exploding with just wrath, he overflows with grace, just like he did with Hagar in our Scripture for today. The God who sees is the God who speaks.
How do you feel when you see tragedy enter the life of someone you love? How do you think God feels when he sees the same thing in the lives of those he loves?
What does it mean to you to know that he is the God who sees you? How did God respond to Hagar’s situation? How did he help her?
Tuesday
July 22, 2025
The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.
— Psalm 121:8 (BSB)
Four times in Psalm 121 we are told that God watches over us. This is not a passive watching, but an active watching to the keeping of us. “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.” ² You may recognize this line from the well-known song, but these words were actually spoken by a Mrs. Doolittle, a bedridden woman from Elmira New York. When asked by friend and hymn writer Civilla Martin what the secret of her bright hopefulness was in spite of her condition, she responded with those words and inspired the well-known hymn. ³ As believers, our sins no longer separate us from the Lord, his face is no longer turned away from us — Jesus has born that shunning for us. Now the Father’s face is towards you and his gaze upon you, and you too can now sing, “I know he watches me.”
How can watching over be more than passive or casual observation? Why do you think Mrs. Doolittle found such comfort in knowing God was watching her?
Do you agree with the statement that our sins no longer separate us from God? What does the Father see when he looks at you?
Wednesday
July 23, 2025
Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.
— 2 Peter 2:8
In a tough spot? The Lord has us in this world - we are not taken out of it; yet. But we are kept from the evil one and his devices. You are kept and made to stand firm in Christ. The enemy wants to wear us down day after day and to keep us from our pursuit of the Lord. But our Lord knows how to rescue us from our trials! The Righteous One knows exactly what is going on around you and happening to you. He sees all and has the wisdom and power to carry and to rescue. Just simply ask him for it.
Have you experienced a sense of increasing darkness in this world? What might you be seeing that God is also seeing?
How do you keep yourself refreshed in the midst of trial? How do you become as a light in a dark place to this world?
Thursday
July 24, 2025
And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
— Job 1:12 (ESV)
If you think about it, all eyes are on us. The angels look upon us. The world is watching. The devil peers at us out of the dark shadows from whence he lurks. And God, well he sees us as a proud father would. Though our enemy would desire to lash out at us without restraint, his attacks, like the sea, are under the Lord’s watchful sovereignty and kind providence. No evil scheme is allowed to be carried out without God’s permission and intention to work it out for our good. We’ve already won. Now may we walk through this valley with stellar resolve before a world that needs to know there is a good God who sees all.
Does knowing that God is in control and will not allow you to undergo anything without his permission rid you of all fear and anxiety? Why or why not?
What was the outcome of Job’s trials? Did his “eyesight” improve? Explain.
Friday
July 25, 2025
But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!”
— Nehemiah 6:11
Difficulties and disruptions are a normal part of life, and for the Christian, so is opposition; but God will build his church. Nehemiah was put to task and he refused to pull a “Jonah”. And like Nehemiah and King David, God has called you to a work and fleeing is not an option. Once you’ve put your hand to it, with a mind for it, keep at it; and remember who called you. The Lord is careful to watch over his work, and his workers. We acknowledge that life’s uncertainties can push us down the slope of trepidation into the pit of timidity. But God has given us prayer and his Holy Spirit to lift us up into bold service.
What might rob your confidence in your service to God? What can bolster it?
Whose work is this? In other words, whose kingdom are you laboring for and who is watching over that work? Is there a place for stress in your labors?