whATTRIBUTES: Attributes of a Loving God – Omnipresent One
OMNIPRESENT ONE
February 16th, 2022
Genesis 16:13, ‘She gave this name to the Lord Who spoke to her: “You are the God Who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One Who sees me.”’
Don’t we often feel unseen, invisible, alone? I recall some of my times of greatest aloneness and loneliness were spent surrounded by a crowd of people, feeling lost in the midst of so many, being unheard and unimportant.
I think that God knew the tendency of humanity, to blend in, fade out, a bleached spot on a whitewashed wall. I think that is why He chose to love each of us individually, purposefully. Maybe it helps me accept myself in all my waywardness and misgivings, knowing He sees me in the midst of my invisibility helps me feel so not alone. That He identifies with me, that He comes into my messy corner, that He knocks at my door, the one secluded and hidden, and waits for me to invite Him inside, so we can hang out, all of it is soothing and invasive, freeing and constrictive, but I feel oh, so loved, and, well, sought.
Do you know He even looked up to find Zacchaeus? He was hiding in that tree, remember? In fact, God saw Adam and Eve when they hid in the Garden, ashamed of their nakedness. He saw the heart of a teenage girl and deemed her womb the perfect peace for the infinite Infant. He saw David with guilt wiped across his face and an evil plan dwelling in his heart. He saw a world He’d made, one that made Him sad and filled Him with regret, one that He demolished.
He also saw the faith of the woman suffering from hemorrhaging. He healed her. He recognized with love a man after His own heart. He saw the heart of the man who laid his son upon the altar of wood while he awaited the Lord to provide, and He made His descendants and authority too numerous to count. He walked through walls to be where we were gathered, He cooked breakfast and invited us to set our anchors and come be with Him, He looked down through time to focus on you and me.
We can do everything to be seen, or nothing to be seen. We are often seen for the wrong reasons and frequently ignored for the right. It seems to be an epidemic. Whether gunning up and down the streets or waving flags or protesting mandates or senseless killings in theatres and schools and on city streets, we are all after the same end—to be visible or invisible. There is not one mistake, however; we are seen and known and purposed by a Holy God. He has set us apart to be used for our good and others good and for His glory. Praise Jesus He sees me. I don’t know where I would be without His intimate knowledge of me.
Ex 3:13-14, ‘Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (NIV)
