「下來！」我朋友堅定地對她兒子說，因他爬上了教堂的靠背長椅，揮舞著雙手。但她兒子天真地說：「我想讓牧師看見我，要是不站起來，他就看不到我了。」

雖然可能大多數的教會都不會鼓勵人站在長椅上，但是我朋友的兒子說得也有道理。站起來揮舞雙手這種方式，確實能被人看見，又能吸引牧師的注意。

當我們試圖引起上帝的注意時，卻無需擔憂祂看不見我們。上帝每時每刻都在看著我們每一個人。夏甲在人生最困頓、最孤單、最沮喪時，這位上帝親自向她顯現。那時，夏甲被撒萊當成生育工具送給亞伯蘭，要替撒萊生個兒子（創世記16章3節）。當夏甲懷孕了，亞伯蘭卻容許妻子撒萊苦待夏甲，因「撒萊苦待她，她就從撒萊面前逃走了」（6節）。

這逃跑的婢女夏甲，身懷六甲，孤單無助。當她身處曠野深感絕望之際，上帝憐憫她，差派使者對她說話，並且告訴她，耶和華「聽見了妳的苦情」（11節）。夏甲回應說：「祢是那看見我的上帝。」（13節，新普及譯本）

這是在曠野的處境中多深刻的領悟啊！上帝看見夏甲並憐憫她，同樣地，無論你的處境有多艱難，上帝都看見。

“Get down!” my friend said firmly to her son after he climbed onto the church pew and waved his hands. “I want the pastor to see me,” he innocently replied. “If I don’t stand up, he won’t see me.”

While standing on the pews is probably not encouraged in most churches, my friend’s son had a good point. Standing and waving his hands was certainly one way to be seen and to capture the pastor’s attention.

When we’re trying to get God’s attention, we don’t have to worry about being seen by Him. God sees each of us all the time. He’s the same one who revealed Himself to Hagar when she was probably at the lowest, loneliest, and most frustrating time in her life. She’d been used as a pawn and given to Abram by his wife, Sarai, to produce a son (Genesis 16:3). And when she did get pregnant, Abram allowed his wife to mistreat Hagar: “Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her” (v. 6).

The runaway slave found herself alone, pregnant, and miserable. Yet in the midst of her desperation in the wilderness, God compassionately sent an angel to speak to her. The angel told her that God had “heard of [her] misery” (v. 11). She responded by saying, “You are the God who sees me” (v. 13).

What a realization—especially in the midst of the wilderness. God saw Hagar and had compassion. And no matter how tough things are, He sees you.