“He Sees…”

In the fairy tale, “Alice in Wonderland,” Alice follows the white rabbit through a hole, down the tunnel, and lands flat in a strange hallway that is surrounded by locked doors. From a glass table, Alice takes a bottle labeled “Drink Me,” and as the liquid goes down, it causes her to shrink. Alice tries to maneuver around in a world that has now become too big for her.

Has your world become narrow, starting to close in on you, like Alice? Are you feeling less important or less useful these days? What has brought you to this place? Has a disease left you less mobile? Are you feeling shut in because you are the sole caregiver to someone? Do you have small children at home needing all of your attention? Maybe it’s the heaviness of grief that has set in and is so very hard to shake off.

There are all kinds of prisons and not all of them have bars keeping you hemmed in. I feel your heartache and your desire for change. I have cried out to the Lord in all of those different circumstances. Be comforted, He is with you…there. Do not despise this “shelf time”. Offer it up to the Father. Like only He can, the Lord will reveal Himself more than you could ever imagine in this confined place. He will enlarge the territory of your heart/soul/spirit even while still feeling crushed and pressed. This is a time you will be shown that it is not what you “do” for God, but who you “are” in God.

I discovered the ability to not despise my world becoming smaller when my son and I lived at Children’s Hospital on and off for just over a year. It was during my “shelf time” that God poured into me His light, strength, and comfort. He taught me deep things throughout the scriptures, as well as letting me know it isn’t what I “do” for Him but who He is for me and what I am in Him. When we learn that truth, our world begins to change. We can learn to accept where God has us and rest in the tight places we find ourselves.

Remember then that Alice also found some cake in the box labeled “EAT ME” and by doing that she enlarged herself. (Okay, so she became too big, but this is a fairytale after all). We also enlarge when we are like David in Ps 34:8 where he says to taste and see that the Lord is good. By taking our own “cake”, who is Jesus, the Bread of Life, we will also be satisfied completely just being in His presence, no matter how small our world seems.

She called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God Who Sees”. Gen 16:13

Abram and Sarai’s slave, Hagar, ran out into the wilderness distraught. Hagar felt her world closing in, she felt alone, forgotten, useless, and unloved. But El Roi, “God Who Sees,” met her there. He brought her hope - He brought Himself. Our God hears our cries and sees our afflictions. He cares for us. Today, won’t you bring Jesus your exhaustion, frustrations, and your true heart’s cry? We have an intimate relationship with the Living God and He is waiting for you.