Thou God seest me

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2026 - PASTOR H CASKEY

GENESIS 16 

The account of Abraham and of Sarai. As we read this portion of scripture we are coming to a very pivotal point in their lives. Surely a life changing moment. I thought of the problem we might have at times of trying to lend God a helping hand. This young woman Hagar is in the wilderness verse 7. No-one else is near her but God is with her. "Thou God seest me." What ever troubles us to day. What ever darkness we are experiencing there is one person who knows all about us. In Genesis 15 God comes to Abram and promised him a son and a land. He was given a promise - he would father a son to be heir to what he had. God would give him a son and land. Some 10 years have passed. He has been waiting all this time for God's promise to be fulfilled. Now we come to this pivotal point. Sarai comes up with an idea. Hagar was her maid. "If I give Hagar to my husband to be his wife then she might be able to bear a son for us." Sarai's idea was to give God a helping hand. Isn't it wonderful how Satan sometimes muddies the waters. He gets your mind and heart away from the promises of God. "Are you sure God has promised you that?" I am sure Sarai had the best intentions. They both were not getting any younger. The promise was now in the future. We need to be careful that we do not try to give God a helping hand. When God promises we have to wait. "Thou God seest me." God sees you today. "Man looketh on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart." "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to his cry." (Psalm 34 verse 15)

Firstly notice God sees his servant. He sees Hagar in the wilderness. A place where there are few people. God sees her. God sees you today. Many are travelling a road where there are not too many on it. There are not many around you to help you. Hagar makes a great statement. There is an air of surprise about her words. Maybe she was weary and tired from the journey. All her thoughts are coming at her. Then the voice of God comes to her. A servant. Just a little maid. Maybe she was a gift given when in Egypt some time back. "Who would every worry about me? Who would ever give me a second thought?" She ran from Abraham and Sarai and was out here in the wilderness. The God of heaven knew all about her. He was looking down on her. Acts 10 "God is no respecter of persons." Have we come into this house expecting anything today? Is God speaking to me? Have you thought "will God know anything about me?" Remember Isaiah when he said "Here am I send me." God is waiting this morning just for you to surrender all you have, to give all into his hands, holding nothing back. Isaiah walked into the house of God and saw the Lord high and lifted up. He heard God ask "whom shall I send?" Isaiah responded "here am I Lord send me." Have you come to day willing to answer God's call? Maybe you think there is no-one who cares about you. You have come into day and have been surprised that God would even speak to you. Peter had the vision of a sheet being let down from heaven full of clean and unclean animals. The Lord told him to rise and eat. Peter responded "not so Lord." Maybe God has been speaking to you already through the hymns sung and you are saying "not so Lord, I could never do that." Gideon of old thought "who am I?" He was sitting with the enemy all around him threshing a little wheat. He was trying to hide it from the enemy just to feed his family. God appeared to him. God had great plans for him. "Thou mighty man of valour the Lord is with thee." Gideon responded "if the Lord is with us then why has all this happened to us?" God will use him to lead Israel, to deliver them from the enemy that was occupying the land. Gideon explained that his family was poor and he himself was the least in his father's house. That is how you may feel today. That there are people more able that you today. God told Gideon he would use him to deliver Israel out of the hands of the enemy. The greatest plan was devised in God's heart long ago. He was going to send his Son into the world to save everyone. We have a problem today - heaven's door is closed to us. We were lost because of the sin we had inherited. God looking down loved us. He sent his Son into this world. He didn't chose a princess or a royal palace but came to a little maid, an insignificant girl. God says "you will bring my Son into the world." Mary said to the angel "behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word."   Are you looking into God's face and you don't know how you will get out of this situation? Remember Jacob when he was leaving his father-in-law Laban. Jacob had taken his 2 wives from Laban and God came to him and said "Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad." (Genesis 31 verse 24). God was looking after his servant. God sees his servant.

Secondly, God also sees his servant and her situation. God is not just aware of his servant but also of the situation she is in. It is wonderful to know that God has not forgotten about us in our difficult situation. God wasn't just interested in Hagar's life, he was interested in the situation she was in. He knows all about her situation. Verse 8. He is getting her to think of the situation, to face up to the honesty of the situation. She had fled from the face of her mistress Sarai. She couldn't live with her. The relationship between them had broken down. Neither could look each other in the face any longer. Hagar had become pregnant and that is when things began to go wrong. Isn't that what does happen? We step out of line. Maybe when Hagar conceived she became superior to Sarai. She realised God had done something for her that he hadn't done for Sarai. It is dangerous to think of ourselves as being super spiritual than another person. We look at others and begin to despise others. As a result that causes a problem between 2 women. Hagar had to flee and runs away instead of facing up to the situation, to the problems that drove her into the wilderness. This is what happens when we try to give God a helping hand. Here was this maid who had a great relationship in the home before this situation. Now when Sarai's plan goes wrong the relationship breaks up. Arguments happen. That is when we need to be careful. When David was returning the ark of the covenant, he placed it on a new trailer. It was a symbol of the presence of God. On the way home the oxen stumbled and the ark moved. A young man reached over to steady it but God smote him dead. He was trying to give God a helping hand. We need to be careful because that is when things go wrong. God knows all about me and my situation. "In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths." There is a time when we do lean on our own understanding and that is dangerous. Whenever we see a situation and begin to think through it we need to make sure it is God's plan not ours. God knew all about the situation in Corinth. Paul was preaching the word of God day by day but nothing was happening. He was ready to step away. There was no fruit obvious. In Acts 18 the Lord spoke to Paul. He spoke directly to him in the night. "Be not afraid but speak and hold not thy peace. For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city." God knew all about Paul and the situation he was in. He knew that he was ready to walk away but God came to him. Remember the time when he was on the way to Rome. The situation was dire. The winds were blowing and there was neither sun nor stars. All hope was lost in that situation. Acts 27 verse 22 "And now I exhort you to be of good cheer for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve. Saying, Fear not Paul."  God knew all about the situation and he asked for honesty.

Thirdly, God sees the solitude. Hagar leaves Abraham's house. All was going well for her in that home. She had been treated well until this situation arose. Now she is out in the wilderness. A bare place. A trying place. Sometimes as children of God we come through those times. If we are honest there are times when the solitude is virtually unbearable. David said "I looked on my right and on my left, no man careth for my soul." Paul to Timothy said "all men have forsaken me but the Lord stood by when I looked for someone to help me." He knew the Lord had not forsaken him. Maybe you are in a very lonely place, a dark place. You feel like no-one cares, that everyone is gone today. Like Hagar. Sarah had turned against her. She feels the opposition in the house. The responsibility bearing on her. God comes to her at that time. Remember Elijah when he was fleeing from Jezebel. One moment he was on the mountain top calling down fire and defeating the prophets of Baal and the next he is in the valley of despair. Jezebel promised to kill him and he flees into the wilderness. God is with him there also. Joshua stepped into the shoes of Moses when they were about to cross the Jordan. As he gazed on Jericho he could see it was a massive city with large walls. What thoughts are going through his mind? He is thinking of the call of God on him. The Lord tells him to be courageous because he was with him. Maybe you are going through a difficult battle and you are facing it alone. You don't know what way to turn. God knows all about you. He knows about your situation. He knows your solitude. 

Fourthly, God sees the solution - verse 9 "return to thy mistress and submit to her hands." The solution was to return. To face up to the problem itself.  Remember when Paul was in prison and the door opened. A young man was cast into the prison with him. A servant belonging to Philemon. Paul saw the young man saved by the grace of God. He had to go back to Philemon. He had to face up to the situation. Jacob had to do that as well. He sold the birthright and fled away. He was so long away but God came to him and told him he had to go back and face up to the situation. Maybe today God is saying to us there is a situation you have walked away from and you have to go back and sort that out. What must it have taken for Hagar to do that. To leave her pride and prejudice behind her and go back and sort that out. Blessing doesn't come to you until you obey the Lord. He sees you as his servant, in the situation you are in. He sees you in the solitude that the situation has brought you into. He doesn't leave you. He comes with a solution today. Why not come to the Lord today. Trust him as your Saviour and leave the situation with him. Maybe God is asking you for full surrender to him today.