When God Sees You: Finding Purpose in the Wilderness

• Divine Perception and Relationship [00:34:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that God's act of seeing is rooted in a desire for relationship and knowledge of the individual, rather than judgment or performance-based approval.
• Human Condition of Invisibility [00:27:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker discusses how society conditions people to ignore or 'erase' those who are different, homeless, or disabled, leaving them feeling overlooked and isolated.
• Biblical Narrative of Hagar [00:29:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor reads and analyzes Genesis 16, focusing on Hagar as an overlooked slave who is seen and heard by God, serving as a testimony to His compassion for the marginalized.
• Human Impatience vs. Divine Timing [00:36:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker contrasts Sarah's anxiety and attempt to 'take matters into her own hands' with God's faithful timing, highlighting the human tendency to act out of impatience.
• Human Impatience and Taking Matters Into Own Hands [00:36:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts Abraham's faith with Sarah's impatience, illustrating how anxiety leads people to bypass God's timing and make flawed decisions, such as Sarah bringing Hagar into the family.
• Pride and Disrespect in Hierarchies [00:38:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes Hagar's shift from slave to wife, noting how pride caused her to despise her mistress, and draws a parallel to modern church members who become arrogant after leadership training.
• Running from Pain and Avoidance [00:42:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses Hagar's flight to illustrate a common human tendency to run from discomfort, conflict, or sin rather than confronting it, warning that pain will 'chase' the individual with a 'new name'.
• Divine Pursuit and Identity [00:44:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes that God actively seeks out the lost and broken, validating their identity by calling them by name, showing that no one can outrun God's omniscience and care.
• Submission and Returning to Source [00:51:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor interprets God's command for Hagar to 'go back and submit' as a directive to confront the source of pain rather than flee, clarifying that this is not an endorsement of abuse but a call to resolve underlying issues.
• Submission [00:51:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor redefines submission not as a negative societal concept but as a divine command from God that leads to blessing, clarifying it is not an endorsement of abuse.
• Tethered to God [00:55:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the concept of being 'tethered' to God as an unbreakable anchor that remains connected to God's love regardless of external circumstances or lack of immediate resolution.
• Divine Sight/Visibility [00:55:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The sermon emphasizes that while people may overlook or mistreat individuals, God sees them, hears their cries, and validates their existence, particularly for the brokenhearted.
• Brokenness and Grace [01:03:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that God came to save the broken, not the perfect, and that His mercy and grace are available to those who acknowledge their flaws and need for Him.
• Tethering to God [01:07:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges the congregation to spiritually attach themselves to God, promising that He becomes their everything and provides power to change lives.
• Identity in Christ [01:08:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker emphasizes that believers are no longer defined by their past, what people called them, or the enemy's lies, but are now God's children known by name.
• Divine Correction and Love [01:08:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that God's redirection or commands to make things right are acts of love, not condemnation.

• Sermon Illustration [00:25:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about her husband demanding she speak, her nervousness, and a recent conviction from the Lord that while she may not preach like the pastor, she is commanded to share the gospel in her own way.
• Sermon Illustration [00:29:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of Hagar, an Egyptian slave who was mistreated by Sarah, ran away, and was found by the Angel of the Lord in the wilderness, where God promised to multiply her offspring and named Him 'El Royi' (The God Who Sees).
• Sermon Illustration [00:27:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the cultural conditioning that teaches children to look away from people with disabilities or the homeless, leading adults to ignore them and resolve their own discomfort by pretending they don't exist.
• Sermon Illustration [00:36:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical narrative of Sarah's impatience leading to Hagar's inclusion, Hagar's subsequent pride and mistreatment by Sarah, Hagar's flight into the wilderness, and the Angel of the Lord finding her, calling her by name, and commanding her to return and submit.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about teaching young girls who become angry at Sarah for her actions, using this reaction to pivot into a deeper analysis of Hagar's lack of agency and the complexity of her situation.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor provides a modern application by comparing Hagar's flight to congregants who quit jobs, leave marriages, or run from church when faced with conflict or difficulty, illustrating that running only changes the name of the pain, not the pain itself.
• Sermon Illustration [00:59:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The story of Christopher Ward Jr., a 12-year-old blind boy who used an eSight device to see his mother for the first time, illustrating that being seen by God is greater than physical sight.
• Sermon Illustration [01:05:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor's personal account of his father's sudden medical emergency, followed by the deaths of his mother and brother within seven months, illustrating God's presence in the 'desert place' of uncontrollable loss.
• Sermon Illustration [01:09:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the metaphor of the enemy sitting on a person's shoulder to whisper that they are not good enough, contrasting this with the believer's reminder that they know a living God who knows their identity.

• Pastoral Charge [00:27:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor requests the congregation to attentively receive and absorb the upcoming message.
• Pastoral Charge [00:56:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > Write down the word 'tethered' as a reminder of spiritual anchoring.
• Pastoral Charge [01:08:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > Stand in reverence.
• Pastoral Charge [01:08:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > Stand in reverence to God

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:00:47] Proverbs 31 30 and it says is deceitful is vain a woman who fears the Lord she shall be praised hallelujah she shall be just join me in prayer father god i thank thank you for my brothers and my sisters that we can come together

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:05:35] and worship you, Father God.
[00:05:37] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:05:38] I thank you, Father, for the mothers.
[00:05:41] I thank you for the mothers in the room, Father God, who are in a season of waiting and praying, Father God.
[00:05:47] I pray, Father God, that you let them know, God, that you see them, God.
[00:05:56] I'm thankful, God.
[00:05:59] I'm praying for the mothers, God, who has a prodigal son or daughter that they are just waiting to return home, Father God.
[00:06:06] And as they come running, Father God, we know that the mother will run to them too.
[00:06:11] Hallelujah.
[00:06:12] I'm thankful, God.
[00:06:13] I'm praying for the mothers right now, Father God, who are in the room, who are like, God, am I doing this right?
[00:06:21] Father God, I pray that you just comfort them and let them know that in every single season you are there.
[00:06:26] They can call on you.
[00:06:28] And, Lord, I thank you for the men of God in the room that lead us, Father God, that lead the homes, that lead us to you, Father God.
[00:06:36] I praise you, God.
[00:06:38] I thank you for every person in the room.
[00:06:40] Father God, I just pray too for Sister Natalie Father God, as she delivers the word today Father God, I pray that a heart is touched I pray for holy boldness, Father God Just all over her, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, God
[00:06:55] We thank you, Father High and lifted up you are In Jesus' holy and mighty name I pray Amen Hallelujah

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:07:06] Be seated

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:19:11] mind everybody how truly blessed we are as a nation not only financially but physically and emotionally and spiritually we have the opportunity to come here freely to worship a god who is truly worthy of every word of praise every moment he's worthy and he sees us and he hears us if we have
[00:19:59] forgotten or if we're worried that he hasn't or that he isn't watching our every move but he is because he promised he would, promised he'd never leave us or forsake us.
[00:20:09] And at this time, if the guys will come, we're going to take up our offering.
[00:20:13] If you'll bow your heads in prayer.
[00:20:26] Definitely, Father, we thank you for everything that we have been given, not just the money, not just the salaries and the gifts, but definitely, Father, everything.
[00:20:36] Definitely, Father, we pray today that that which is given, that you will multiply it for your kingdom, for the salvation of souls and the discipleship of the same.
[00:20:45] Heavenly Father to take care of the needs of this church and the people of this church because that's what's important it's the people of Jesus so Heavenly Father multiply it for your service in your name we pray, Amen

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:21:00] Happy Mother's Day to all of our mamas, can we give them a hand mamas probably put up with more mess than anybody else does um and yet their heart continues to grow and they love and continue to cherish those even
[00:21:42] sometimes that uh that walk on their heart someone told me one time they said when they're little they walk on your feet and when they're old they walk on your heart and we understand that in life
[00:21:56] But mothers will find themselves at the graveside.
[00:22:04] Mothers will find themselves at Calvary's cross.
[00:22:07] When everyone else has left, there's always mamas that are there.
[00:22:11] It is our privilege today.
[00:22:13] She doesn't do this often, and I am honored that she is doing this today.
[00:22:18] She is the mother of our church.
[00:22:21] She is the one that keeps all of the wheels rolling, the cogs greased, and making sure her husband don't fall off the tracks.
[00:22:32] And I am thankful for my wife and for the pastor's wife that she is to this church.
[00:22:40] She is a blessing.
[00:22:41] Amen.
[00:22:43] Can you give her just honor?
[00:22:48] Amen.
[00:22:51] I asked her, I always ask her every year, I said, do you want to share?
[00:22:54] And sometimes she does and sometimes she don't.
[00:22:57] I didn't ask her this year.
[00:22:58] I told her.
[00:23:00] no. I said, you're speaking right. And she didn't say no. I said, well, then the Lord must have told her she was. But it is an honor and privilege. I want to just say something real quick. I want to
[00:23:14] thank God for his blessings on our life. Amen. I went yesterday or this weekend and had the privilege and was asked to go up and speak at a service in the mountains of West Virginia. I went
[00:23:23] up there and the Lord just spoke to my heart some ways and just really ignited something inside of me that we are blessed people. I went to I think the poorest county in all of America and went
[00:23:37] there and saw I saw a lot of things that disturbed my heart that this is America that that has this that this is the way that some people are living and some people don't have very much at all very
[00:23:50] much means and and i was there and i was sitting in the service yesterday and i was sitting there and i was listening to them and nothing was kind of in order everything was kind of just whatever
[00:24:00] and but the lord was in the service and i sat there with tears rolling down my face as i sat there and listened to people that had uh your cars have nicer radios than what they had in the church
[00:24:15] i looked at people that had more ink on them than the bibles that you carry I looked at people that were addicted to drugs, all kind of pills, opioids.
[00:24:24] I looked at people, and there I saw some people in there that were old-time holiness people.
[00:24:29] And they loved Jesus with all of their heart.
[00:24:31] And I heard messages, and I heard things, and I listened to the Lord as He spoke.
[00:24:36] And the Lord just put it in my spirit that we are so blessed, and we do so much, and we only have very little, that proof that comes from it.
[00:24:47] They have very little, but God does so much.
[00:24:53] And I just want to tell you, all of the things that we do in this life, I see a lot of resources that are spent, but Jesus just wants hearts that are open, hearts that are willing to love, willing to share,
[00:25:12] and willing to be there for each other.
[00:25:14] I'm going to tell you, you have a pastor's wife who loves you, who cares for you.
[00:25:18] who's there for you, who prays for you, who weeps for you.
[00:25:22] And you know what?
[00:25:22] I am thankful and honored that I get to call her my wife.
[00:25:25] This Wednesday is our anniversary, and I'm excited, and I am thankful for the blessing that she adds to my life and to this church.
[00:25:35] Will you welcome your First Lady, Natalie.

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:25:44] Well, I think he just said all that nice stuff because he knows my love language is affirmation.
[00:25:48] So he just did really, really well.
[00:25:50] I want to say this morning that it is an honor and a privilege for me to stand here.
[00:25:56] I don't take it lightly.
[00:25:58] Three years ago, the Lord spoke this message to me, and we were going through some difficult moments with my mom.
[00:26:05] I was taking care of her, and it was just a little too hard for me to even have a cohesive thought.
[00:26:11] So the Lord brought this back to my mind when my husband did demand me to speak this Sunday.
[00:26:16] I thought, you know what, God, it is on time for you.
[00:26:20] so this is what's going to happen. He's an on-time God, right? He knows what we need when we need it.
[00:26:26] Mia had no clue this morning what I was going to speak about, but it was confirmation this morning the word that the Lord has put in my heart is the simple message of God sees. I want to thank my
[00:26:39] family for being here. This is a phenomenal Mother's Day. My son is here, all my children, my beautiful daughter-in-law and I am even excited to have my sister here which is very unusual and she sacrificed being at her church to be with me today and I appreciate that she asked me
[00:26:56] yesterday she was coming and I said wow she said do you ever get nervous I said are you kidding me so if you see me shaking or I could throw up at any moment that's because it it does make me still
[00:27:08] nervous. Pastor said something last week to you. He proclaimed that I am not a preacher and the Lord instantly convicted my heart because he's heard those words for me. And the Lord told me last week, as soon as he said that, you may not preach the way that he preaches, but God has
[00:27:31] commanded me to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so I'm going to do that today in only the way that he has given me the ability to do it and so if you would just for the next few minutes just
[00:27:43] soak in the word of God one of the most basic human needs in our life is to be seen as children we're taught that when we encounter somebody that has a physical or mental issues or disabilities
[00:27:56] we tell our babies don't stare look away don't look at them and so what happens is when we become adults, we condition ourselves that when we see somebody different than us, when we see a homeless
[00:28:12] person or we still see someone who is different, that we just look past them. We're conditioned to erase these people from our minds. We pretend that we don't see them when we really do. We act as
[00:28:25] though they are different species. And a perfect example is when you see that individual that's asking for money and we just simply ignore them by not seeing them and somehow it resolves us of the responsibility of acting on their behalf. I believe with all my heart that the enemy loves
[00:28:46] nothing more than to have people feel overlooked, unseen, misunderstood, isolated, and unloved.
[00:28:56] I'm going to read from the passage this morning if you'll stand from Genesis 16 1 through 13 And I'm a little different from pastor You're not going to see this on your screen this morning
[00:29:07] So if you have your digital Bible If you have your real Bible If you would please turn to Genesis 16 1 We have been conditioned as well Not to bring the word of God To the house of God
[00:29:20] Because it's always on the screen for us, right?
[00:29:23] So if you don't have your physical Bible Or your digital Bible Which means on your phone Just listen closely The Bible says in this text Abram's wife Sarai had not born any children for him but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar
[00:29:40] Sarah said to Abram since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children go to my slave don't you notice here she doesn't even call her by name perhaps through her I can build a family and
[00:29:55] Abram agreed to what Sarah said so Abram's wife Sarah took Hagar her Egyptian slave and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of
[00:30:08] Canaan 10 years. He slept with Hagar and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. And Sarah said to Abram, you are responsible for my suffering. Some scriptures say that Hagar despised Sarah. She said, you're responsible for my
[00:30:31] suffering. I put my slave in your arms and when she saw that she was pregnant, became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you. Now Abram replied to Sarai, here your slave is in
[00:30:45] your power. Do whatever you want with her. And Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her. The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way
[00:30:57] to Shur. He said, Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?
[00:31:05] She replied, I'm running away from my mistress, Sarai. The angel of the Lord said to her, go back to your mistress and submit to her authority. The angel of the Lord said to her, I will greatly
[00:31:19] multiply your offspring and there will be too many to count. The angel of the Lord said to her, You have conceived and will have a son.
[00:31:27] You will name him Ishmael.
[00:31:29] For the Lord has heard, he has heard your cry of affliction.
[00:31:35] This man will be like a wild donkey.
[00:31:37] His hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand will be against him.
[00:31:42] He will settle near all his relatives.
[00:31:45] So she named the Lord who spoke to her.
[00:31:48] You are El Royi.
[00:31:51] for she said, in this place, I have actually seen the one who sees me.
[00:31:58] Let's pray.
[00:32:00] God, I pray that you do what only you can do by the power of your presence, of your Holy Spirit this morning.
[00:32:05] Holy Spirit, you are the great revealer.
[00:32:08] Eliminate these words, Father, and let them be real to us.
[00:32:12] God, I pray that as I speak these words that I desperately know that you have given me, that in my limited ability this morning, Father, that you would take it and you would anoint it and let your words become void.
[00:32:28] Deposit the seed of understanding of these scriptures in our hearts today that will respond just how good you are.
[00:32:37] So God, help me as I deliver your word.
[00:32:40] In your name I pray.
[00:32:41] Amen.
[00:32:42] You may be seated.
[00:32:45] So here we have a lady, a woman who is not famous.
[00:32:50] Her name is Hagar.
[00:32:51] She's not powerful.
[00:32:51] She's not a woman of influence.
[00:32:53] She's not rich.
[00:32:55] She has no authority.
[00:32:56] She has no education.
[00:32:58] People don't get out of their seats to offer it to her when she walks into a room.
[00:33:04] She's an Egyptian slave.
[00:33:06] Therefore, she is oppressed, invisible, overlooked.
[00:33:10] She has no voice of her own dreams, and her voice is invalid.
[00:33:15] She has nothing of her own.
[00:33:17] Not even her own body is of hers.
[00:33:19] I can only imagine that she lived every day in survival mode and that doing exactly what she was told from the time up till the time she went to bed was really all that she had
[00:33:31] and Hagar's name may not have even been written in the word of God if it was not for Sarah and Abraham and here in the scriptures it is Sarai and Abram but just for layman's terms
[00:33:44] I'm going to call them Sarah and Abraham their name has not been changed by God yet but so that we're all under the same understanding, I'm going to call them by the name that God changed it to.
[00:33:57] So Hagar's journey stands as a powerful testimony to God's compassion and attention for those who feel overlooked.
[00:34:05] Her life echoes with a profound resonance for anyone who has ever felt marginalized, forgotten, or pushed aside.
[00:34:15] There's a song that says that in a crowd of 10,000, God, you don't miss a thing.
[00:34:23] You see every heartbeat of every single person.
[00:34:28] You know every hair that is on a person's head.
[00:34:30] You know every detail of their life.
[00:34:33] But the enemy has some of you believing that God doesn't see you.
[00:34:40] You've prayed and you've prayed and you've prayed.
[00:34:43] And your promise has not yet been fulfilled.
[00:34:45] But today my prayer is that you be reminded once again that God does see you.
[00:34:50] He sees you because He wants to know you.
[00:34:53] He doesn't just see you to judge you.
[00:34:56] He sees you because He wants to be in a relationship with you, and He sees every detail of your life.
[00:35:02] His love isn't based on your performance or your status or how well you hide your flaws.
[00:35:11] His love sees us when we are in the exact place where we are in every season, and He calls us to something greater.
[00:35:21] and that's where we find Hagar today.
[00:35:24] One of the many things that I love about the Bible is that it pulls the covers back from our Bible heroes, and we see that it exposes their flaws and their shortcomings.
[00:35:34] And let's go back in the text just a little bit.
[00:35:37] So where we have Abraham, and God has promised him, he's made a covenant with him, and his covenant promise to him is that he would be a father of many nations.
[00:35:48] And within that, Sarah is going to be a part of that promise because it's his wife.
[00:35:55] And so therefore, she's going to be the mother to those children.
[00:36:00] However, they find themselves 10 years past where God has come to Abraham with this covenant.
[00:36:09] And the one who gets antsy, women, is Sarah.
[00:36:13] She gets so fretful and so anxious and probably a little bit in pain because she realizes who Abraham, who is the father of faith, that God is going to, he's going to do exactly what he said he's going to do.
[00:36:35] Abraham knew this.
[00:36:37] But Sarah, however, in her little halty self, her little impatient self, she takes away the hand of God on her life boy if I need a word right there and so what she does is because she's anxious and this is so interesting to me because we see in the word as we go forward
[00:36:59] that Sarah was also known for being faithful but this is not a very faithful time for her because she doesn't go to God to ask her to give her a little bit more strength until the promise comes.
[00:37:15] She decides that she's going to take matters into her own hands, and that's exactly what she does.
[00:37:20] So she goes to her husband, Abraham, and asks him to take Hagar as his wife.
[00:37:28] And she says to him, so that we can build a family.
[00:37:32] so she's important to remember that this was not God's covenant to Abraham this is Sarah wanting things to be done when and how she wants it to be done how many of you have found yourself
[00:37:49] in that same situation Lord God knows that I have amen so the horrible part of this and I've said this story many times to all the young girls that I've taught they get so angry when we walk out of
[00:38:04] the classroom because they're so angry at Sarah because Sarah has done such a horrible thing to another human being. But if you'll hold on just a minute, Sarah didn't ask Hagar or consult her if
[00:38:18] she wanted to marry her husband. She didn't ask her if she wanted to be his wife. She didn't ask her, are you attracted to him? The marriage from Hagar to Abraham was thrust on Hagar and she had
[00:38:36] absolutely no choice because Sarah commanded her to marry Abraham. And after that marriage, Hagar becomes pregnant. And the scriptures say that she began to despise her mistress.
[00:38:52] Hagar got a little too familiar she allowed sin to overtake her and the spirit of pride and arrogance swelled inside her her mind and in her mind she had gone from a slave girl she repositioned herself
[00:39:08] to now I'm a wife and I'm a mama I'm a mama to the heir of the covenant that God has given you Abraham so I think in that she got a little too mean she got a little too prideful
[00:39:21] She shifted from a servant in her mind to look at me.
[00:39:28] I'm going to have a baby and you are not.
[00:39:32] So Hagar despised her mistress.
[00:39:35] She became disrespectful.
[00:39:37] She forgot her place.
[00:39:39] And in those days, there was an order.
[00:39:42] She was in the house of Abraham and Sarah.
[00:39:45] Abraham and Sarah was still her authority.
[00:39:49] Now, bear with me for a minute because we got some people in church that have forgotten the authority of leadership placed by God on the man of God in the house.
[00:40:02] Some think they can do and they can say whatever they want because they've gone to a leadership training or they've gone to some Bible classes or they've led a Bible study and they allow pride to swell inside of them
[00:40:16] to cause them to sin.
[00:40:19] They come into the house and they cause utter confusion and disorder.
[00:40:23] And I'm going to tell you right now, I'm so thankful for a man of God that stands here under the authority and the leadership of God that can see and can visualize the confusion and will put it in its place.
[00:40:39] Amen.
[00:40:43] So Sarah and Hagar got into a little bit of an altercation.
[00:40:47] Sarah says, I've had enough.
[00:40:50] Enough is enough.
[00:40:51] So she goes to her husband and she tells him that he's just got to do something about this girl.
[00:40:58] And I believe this is another definition that the pastor brought to our hearts a few weeks ago about the curse in the beginning of Genesis.
[00:41:06] If you were here, it was a phenomenal service.
[00:41:08] And a few weeks ago, the pastor was explaining to us and brought the Scriptures to life when he was saying that in Genesis, the curse, when he cursed a woman, he said that she would desire her husband.
[00:41:22] but desire actually means that she would have a desire to rule over her husband.
[00:41:29] And we see here that Sarah is walking in that curse.
[00:41:36] Not once has she gone to her husband to tell him what to do, but this is the second time that she's going to go to her husband and she tells him what he's going to do.
[00:41:44] But he tells her, uh-uh, I didn't do this.
[00:41:50] You did this.
[00:41:51] she's your slave so you do with her whatever you want to do with her and that's exactly what Sarah does and it's so sad to me because I thought you know in that moment I'm sure that Hagar thought that the father
[00:42:07] of her child would take up for her that the father of her child would see her for who she was but once again she had the realization that she was a nobody to anybody. So Sarah begins to mistreat Hagar. And Hagar runs. She doesn't know where she's going.
[00:42:31] She just knows that she needs to get as far away of her pain as she possibly can. But you see, sometimes our pain is due to our own decisions. Sometimes we've got to take responsibility for
[00:42:44] our own actions. Hagar was running from what she caused. Sometimes we need to self-evaluate and realize that we put ourselves in situations that have made our life so much worse than it has to be. Maybe she found herself in that place because she put herself there, even though she didn't sign
[00:43:02] up for what Sarah's schemes were against her. But the way that she reacted did not make things any better. I've seen so many people in church run. They run from church, they run from God, because
[00:43:17] they've made choices and decisions that they couldn't face. The easiest way for most people to deal with their pain and their disappointment is to run away instead of confronting it. Not dealing with it will lead everybody to sin. And sin will keep you longer than you want to stay
[00:43:35] and you're going to end up paying way more than you have to give. So Hagar finds herself running.
[00:43:43] She's emotional.
[00:43:44] She's fearful.
[00:43:46] She has no clue where she's going or where she's going to end up.
[00:43:51] So she finds herself in a desert place in the wilderness.
[00:43:56] She sits by this well to take a break.
[00:44:00] This is my favorite part of the text.
[00:44:03] It says, the angel of the Lord found Hagar there.
[00:44:08] This blesses my heart because in order for her to be found, the Lord was seeking after her.
[00:44:19] Isn't that beautiful?
[00:44:22] You see, God of the universe, He created you and He knows where you are.
[00:44:30] And no matter how far you try to run, He's going to meet you where you are.
[00:44:37] There is no place in your life that He does not see you.
[00:44:41] There is no secret sin.
[00:44:42] There is no secret emotion.
[00:44:44] There is nothing that you can ever keep from Him.
[00:44:48] He knows you're coming and He knows you're going.
[00:44:51] He knows your desires.
[00:44:53] He knows your dreams.
[00:44:56] He knows.
[00:44:59] There's nowhere that you can run from Him.
[00:45:02] Nowhere in His presence that you can escape from Him.
[00:45:06] Because He knows all, He sees all, and He is ever-present God.

[00:45:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:45:14] You can never outrun Him.

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:45:17] But He seeks after Hagar.
[00:45:20] She's not some powerful woman.
[00:45:22] she's not a woman who is revered she's not a somebody she's just a slave she's a nobody to society Sarah and Abraham in the text did not even call her by her name they called her the servant
[00:45:44] yet the angel of the Lord pursues her she's running from a pain she's running from her suffering. She's running from an unfair situation and she finds herself in a desert place, in a dry place. This woman really had no choice. She did what her mistress asked her to do and
[00:46:10] now she's being punished for it. Her life has been beyond her control probably most of her life and she didn't ask for any of it and she's running but god let me say that one more time
[00:46:28] she's running but god he sought after her to find her why because she was carrying destiny inside of her you carry destiny inside of you and no matter you where you go or where you're coming
[00:46:51] from. God wants to find you because he wants you to be set on the path of destiny and purpose.
[00:47:01] The purpose that he set inside of you from the moment that he gave you life. From that moment, his purpose does not change. No matter how far we try to run from his purpose, his purpose does
[00:47:17] not ever change. But the enemy wants you to wander. He wants you to wander aimlessly in a dry place. The enemy's got no future for you. But Jesus, but God, has a hope and a future for you.
[00:47:40] So he comes to Hagar, and for the first time, he calls her by her name. He says, Hagar, Where have you come from?
[00:47:53] And where are you going?
[00:47:56] Calls her by her name.
[00:47:59] In that moment, probably for the first time in most of her life, there was a validation for her.
[00:48:07] The Lord knew her because he called her by her name.
[00:48:15] That was her identity.
[00:48:18] The first time anybody had ever seen her for who she was, not what she was he knew exactly why she was there and the one of the things that I love about God is he loves to hear your story he wants to engage with you he sought after her and now he wants
[00:48:44] her to talk to him and he knows that she needs to be heard she needs to be understood this is the God that I love he wants to seek to find us but he doesn't want to leave us there so the Lord says
[00:49:03] all right sweetie tell me what's going on with you see he cares all about you he cares about the little things and he cares about the big things he cares about the secret things and Hagar
[00:49:20] says I'm running away from my mistress because she has mistreated me she's been mean to me so The only thing that I needed to do was run.
[00:49:31] You see, in the text, he asked her two questions.
[00:49:35] But you see, she only answered one of them because she only knew the answer to one of them.
[00:49:42] She knew her past, but she doesn't know her future.
[00:49:47] How many of us are defined by our past?
[00:49:50] We want to live in our past.
[00:49:51] We want to blame our past.
[00:49:53] We want to give credit to our past because it feels comfortable and it defines us and it gives us an excuse and it justifies us, but hardly any of us know where we're headed, but God does. He knows your
[00:50:09] future. God knows your destiny. God knows your purpose, and when we run from our circumstances and we run from adversity, when we run from injustice, we don't know where we're going because we're just running aimlessly. We know we just got to get out of there. Some of you,
[00:50:30] when your job is too tough, you quit.
[00:50:34] Some of you go, you know what?
[00:50:36] I can't do this anymore.
[00:50:38] Some of you, as soon as you get offended, you run.
[00:50:43] You wind to where you think the grass is greener.
[00:50:47] When your marriage is in conflict, rather than working it out with the one that you made a covenant to, you want to quit.
[00:50:57] And some want to go find another one.
[00:51:00] Can I just say, you're going to have the same problems

[00:51:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:51:04] with he or she.
[00:51:07] It's just going to have a different name.
[00:51:11] See, Hagar did.

[00:51:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:51:14] She found her place in this desert.
[00:51:19] God says, why are you here?
[00:51:20] This is not your purpose.
[00:51:22] This is not your destiny.
[00:51:23] It's not my plan for you to die here.
[00:51:26] This is not what I've called you to do.
[00:51:28] And then he says something absolutely profound that most of us would roll our eyes at.
[00:51:37] He says, go back to your mistress and submit to her.
[00:51:43] Now, ladies, I'm going to talk to you for just a second.
[00:51:48] The word submission is not a bad word.
[00:51:51] The word submission is a word from God.
[00:51:55] It is okay, even though society tells you that submission is bad.
[00:52:00] It is actually God's plan for you to walk in submission.
[00:52:04] So the Lord tells her, you've got to go back and you've got to submit.
[00:52:10] And I'm sure Hagar said, what are you talking about?
[00:52:13] Go back to that person who has mistreated me so badly.
[00:52:18] Go back to that one who has been completely full of injustice in my life.
[00:52:25] Now, I just want to make a disclaimer right here that if I'm not saying, and the scripture is not saying to ever go back to an abusive environment.
[00:52:34] That's not what the scripture is saying.
[00:52:36] I'm not saying that, so please don't hear that.
[00:52:39] but there are some of you who are in job situations and marriage situations in family situations that it was uncomfortable in the place that you were at so that you ran from it when you shouldn't have you see sometimes we think running is going to solve it all
[00:52:59] but I'm telling you that your pain will just chase you your pain will come with you your pain will have a new name and it's going to look like a new face. But if you do not deal with that, which is
[00:53:13] the source of your pain and your issues, it's just going to keep following you and following you and following you. We got to deal with it. And that's what the Lord was telling Hagar. He says to go
[00:53:24] back to your mistress and submit to her. When you do, I'm going to bless you. When you do, I'm going to make your descendants so numerous, she won't even count them. So guess what? This was a promise
[00:53:41] that not only God gives to her, but he gives to us. We may not have thousands of babies, but there is a promise that God has birthed in us. And if we don't submit to him, then we're never going to see
[00:53:55] the fulfillment of that promise. So he says, go back, submit to your mistress and just watch what I'm going to do. And so she commits her heart to obey his command. And this is beautiful. You know,
[00:54:11] the scriptures, when you read it, I've read the scriptures since I was a little girl, but when you read the scriptures and you read them over and over again, each time the scriptures come alive and each time the scriptures, the Lord will show and reveal himself in a different way.
[00:54:27] And so when I was reading this, and he tells her to go back and to submit, what he's doing is he's giving her a command.
[00:54:34] See, she had been given commands her whole life.
[00:54:38] But this command was different.
[00:54:41] This command was made to her out of love.
[00:54:45] This was a command that was made to her that was going to bless her life.
[00:54:49] This was a command that was made to her that I believe that she had such an encounter with this command that it starts to transform her behavior.
[00:55:01] Her attitude starts to change.
[00:55:04] She's not angry.
[00:55:05] This is a willing command that she wants to fulfill.
[00:55:11] She says, I've seen the one who sees me.
[00:55:14] Because of this visitation, she becomes, this is mine and Kim's favorite word, she becomes tethered to God.
[00:55:23] Right, Kim?
[00:55:26] Tethered means that you are anchored to Him.
[00:55:31] Tethered means that no matter what storm comes, no matter what place you find yourself, that you're so anchored in God that nothing can separate you from His love.
[00:55:43] Nothing in this world can pull you away from Him because you are tethered to the one who sees you.
[00:55:51] Right, Kim?
[00:55:53] She was so connected, I believe, in this moment to the Lord who's seen her, that she said, okay, even if I go back and Sarah is still mistreating me, I'm going to do it because I love you. Even if I see no change in my environment,
[00:56:15] even if I'm still just a mere slave, even if I am still a nobody in the household that I'm going back to even when she is going to become a single mama and life's going to get hard for her even if
[00:56:37] she does everything that the Lord asked her and she doesn't get anything in return she knows that in this moment she's so tethered to him some of you need to write that word down tethered to him
[00:56:57] sometimes being tethered to him means that we're going to walk in places we don't understand we've gone to the doctor and the sickness is still there we've begged that spouse to come back and yet there is still no response we've gone to the bank account and it still says
[00:57:19] zero we've been praying for a prodigal to come home and they still haven't shown any signs of being faithful being tethered to him means that even if the storms overtake me I will stay connected to you that's where Hagar was she became tethered connected to him
[00:57:50] even though he brought her discipline and correction he did it with love and she heard at this moment she finally became a somebody to a God who is everything to a God who is somebody
[00:58:11] to everybody he loves you and he sees you he's heard your misery and when you see when you feel unloved when you feel invisible I'm here to tell you that he is sometimes the only one that will
[00:58:28] see you he understands when we got to go through the fire sometimes we got to go through the crushing we got to go through the pressing God will always give us blessing of inheritance on
[00:58:46] the other side I know there's been people in this room and you felt overlooked and you feel like somebody who has been disregarded or invaluable you feel like that you just don't fit in anywhere
[00:59:01] you feel like somebody who maybe has been invisible your entire life but for somebody that has been consistently misunderstood I want to reassure you that God sees you there is a story and I am ending
[00:59:22] but there is a story of a blind boy his name is Christopher Ward Jr it's a beautiful story you can look him up on YouTube he's 12 years old and he's been blind his whole life
[00:59:36] You see, in his blindness, he's never been able to live a fulfillment of life like everybody else.
[00:59:43] He couldn't catch a ball.
[00:59:45] He couldn't watch cartoons like the other kids.
[00:59:48] He couldn't participate.
[00:59:51] He couldn't be a little boy because his world was different.
[00:59:58] He had never seen the face of the people that he loved.
[01:00:04] And so his mother, there was a new device.
[01:00:08] It's called eSight.
[01:00:09] And they wanted to go to Washington to see if this would work for this 12-year-old little boy.
[01:00:15] And even though Christopher didn't have a lot of thoughts about this new device, because he didn't know any different, he had just always not seen.
[01:00:27] But his mother wanted to make sure that if there was an opportunity for him to see, that she wanted to give that to him.
[01:00:35] and so they traveled to Washington to the doctor and it is a device that when Christopher looked through it it was really just digitized if that makes any sense he didn't really see clearly but
[01:00:51] he knew what he was looking at so they put this on him for the first time and he looked at the wall and he knew that was a wall just innately he knew that that was a wall and he looked around

[01:01:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:01:02] and he looked at his mama as tears streamed down his face he said mama I see you you see sometimes being able to see is great but being the one who is seen is much greater baby if you'll come

[01:01:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:01:29] God sees you people may not ever see you but God sees you your spouse may not see you that he sees you. Your friends may overlook you, but he never does. He is the God who sees
[01:01:49] you. He is the God who hears you. He has heard you when you have been by yourself and you have cried rivers of tears. He has seen you when you have begged him for the promise that he has given
[01:02:12] you. He has seen you and he has heard your cries. And this message is for children, women, and men.
[01:02:24] Because we all find ourselves in a place where we don't realize the power of God. We don't realize that when our life is falling apart, we're just crying out for something. That it's really God
[01:02:41] that hears us and sees us.
[01:02:46] He says to you in Psalms 34, 18, that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
[01:02:58] He sees your wounds and He draws near to you.
[01:03:04] He didn't come to save the perfect, but He came to save the broken.
[01:03:10] If that's not reason for us to rejoice, I don't know what else is.
[01:03:13] He didn't come to you because you are perfect He came to you because you were broken We've all found places in our life of brokenness Because we're all deeply flawed And we're all deeply broken
[01:03:34] I know the promises of my God I know what it's like for Him to turn ashes into beauty I've experienced moments where I know that He has truly seen me.
[01:03:57] I've been in some deep and dark places in my life.
[01:04:03] I've been in a lot of wilderness moments.
[01:04:07] I've been in dry moments.
[01:04:10] Some of them were all my fault.
[01:04:13] And I paid the consequences of those choices.
[01:04:17] But some of them were not.
[01:04:19] I found my place sometimes in a season where I had to look to God as loving as He is and just beg for His mercy and His grace.
[01:04:34] Because His mercy and His grace didn't end with Hagar.
[01:04:42] His word is just as true today as it was then.
[01:04:46] His plan and His purpose is inside of you.
[01:04:51] And His desire is for it to be birthed.
[01:04:58] The Word says that Hagar went back.
[01:05:03] She submitted.
[01:05:04] She gave birth to her son, Ishmael.
[01:05:11] And years later, it says that he was the product.
[01:05:17] He was the product of the covenant and the promise of Abraham.
[01:05:27] Almost three years ago, the 18th, my family went through a very difficult time.
[01:05:37] My sister went to check on my dad, and she found him unresponsive.
[01:05:46] And she called me, and she said, I can't wake up, Dad.
[01:05:53] And I will tell you in that moment, if you've ever found yourself in a place that you lose somebody that you love so dearly, it is an instant desert place.
[01:06:08] Instant desert place.
[01:06:11] I got in my car, I got dressed, I got in my car, and I'm flying down the road to Lincolnton and my brother calls me and Chad says I don't think he's going to make it sis
[01:06:22] the ambulance had gotten there and they were trying to revive him and he said I don't think he's going to make it and in an instant the Holy Spirit covered me because he's seen me
[01:06:37] he's seen that place where I desperately needed him I was desperate for him He heard my cries And he met me there Seven months later My mom passes away Seven months later Our brother passes away
[01:07:03] You see There are some things that are without your control But I am here to promise you That no matter what happens to you in your life No matter where your life takes you He sees you
[01:07:25] But all you got to do is you got to tether yourself to Him Some of us think that coming to church on Sunday is enough Some of us think that bowing our head and blessing our food is enough
[01:07:45] Some of us think that when we lay our heads down at night And say our little prayers is enough But I'm here to tell you today that if you really tether yourself to Him

[01:07:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:07:57] he becomes your everything in those moments that you say god even if even if what come may

[01:08:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:08:09] i am tethered to you past does not define me anymore because i found you and you found me so now i'm going to tether myself to you if you would stand this morning in reverence to an almighty
[01:08:30] God, I want to say this morning, there is power in his word. There is power to change lives.
[01:08:46] There is power for him that he will redirect you. He might tell you to go back, but it's only because he loves you. He might tell you, you got to make some things right, but it's only because
[01:09:00] he loves you. He sees you. You are not anymore who you used to be. You are not anymore what people used to call you. You are now his child. And he calls you by your name. Your name. He calls you
[01:09:28] by your name. Some of you need to get that in your spirit this morning. And it doesn't matter how many times the enemy has come to you and he has sat on your shoulder and told you that you
[01:09:40] are not good enough. You remind him this morning, hey, wait a minute. I know a living God that knows who I am and he's already taken care of everything that I have concern of. So this morning, if you
[01:10:01] would bow your heads, I'm going to ask you, I cannot stand behind this pulpit without first asking that if you don't know Jesus Christ, if you're not tethered to him, if he is not your
[01:10:17] everything, I'm going to ask you this morning with nobody looking around, if this morning his word has echoed in your spirit, would you just lift your hand this morning? Would you just lift your hand and say, I want to be tethered. I want him to know my name. I want him to meet me in the desert
[01:10:44] place I want him to know and hear me if you're here this morning and the word of God has echoed in your spirit and you are tethered to him you do love him you do serve him with all your heart
[01:11:07] your mind your soul and your spirit but this morning you're going through a place that is just dry. You're going through a place this morning that is a wilderness. You've prayed and you have prayed and you seem as though he has not met you yet. I'm going to ask you, would you please just
[01:11:30] come and let me pray with you? Would you just come? If his word has touched your spirit today, will you just come this morning come on get out of your seat and come and i'm gonna ask if you
[01:11:56] are here with your mama husbands grab that woman of god by the hand and i ask that you bring her to the altars this morning come on don't delay don't delay don't delay the waters are moving
[01:12:18] now every man woman and child should be in these altars this morning come with your family if you would just wrap your arms around each other pray for that mama who has sacrificed everything for
[01:12:43] you pray for that mama this morning that no matter what age she is that she may be going through A journey in her life Where she just needs that touch of God Mamas, pray for your babies this morning
[01:13:02] Pray that God holds them and He keeps them

[01:13:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:13:07] Pray this morning that they won't fear from the presence of God

[01:13:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:13:14] Mamas and daddies, pray for that prodigal this morning Pray this morning that that child that you have so desperately Desperately called out to God for that they will be drawn to his spirit, that they'll come home by the power of God.
[01:13:37] They'll find their self faithful to him again.
[01:13:45] Mamas, wives, pray for that man of God that's in your life this morning.
[01:13:55] Pray that God will lead him, guide him, and direct him.
[01:14:00] That God will speak to him.
[01:14:02] that He will stand in authority to lead your family the way that God has called Him to lead.
[01:14:11] Father, we honor You in this house.
[01:14:18] We honor You for Your Word this morning.
[01:14:27] God, I know without a shadow of a doubt that this Word was on time.
[01:14:32] I know without a shadow of a doubt that this morning that Your Word has echoed in the spirits of Your people.
[01:14:40] God, this morning I pray for all men in this room, all women, all children in this room.
[01:14:45] Father, that they have the revelation, not just the knowledge, but the revelation that you have seen them, that you have heard their cries.
[01:15:00] God, I worship you in this house.
[01:15:06] Jesus, you are worthy.
[01:15:10] Jesus, you are faithful.
[01:15:16] Lord, you are ever-loving this morning.

[01:15:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:15:30] Lord God, birth your promise.

[01:15:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:15:33] Birth your promise in your people today, God.
[01:15:40] let your anointing flow father from the tops of their heads to the soles of their feet father do the thing inside of them god that only you can do lord let there be miracles upon miracles
[01:15:57] let there be blessings of authority of your word let there be rivers father of blessings father that overflow inside of your people in this room tether us father tether us anchor us to your word
[01:16:20] anchor us to your presence the only presence that will find us peace

[01:16:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:16:25] praise your holy spirit just sing that song he knows my name and every step that i take every move that i make and every tear that i can't see the light every tear today father god that touch father god there was some