Years ago I attended a national mothering conference. A lot of women had gathered together to have fun, bond with friends, and learn how to be better mothers. Unfortunately, I didn’t attend with other women.
The truth was I’ve never felt so alone in my life.
I had a hotel room to myself. I sat alone during the speakers’ presentations, among 5,000 women. I remember looking around and thinking, “Nobody knows me. Nobody understands.” They didn’t know who I was. They didn’t know about my life or about my children or my ministry.
It made me think about our desire to be known. We want to feel appreciated. If we’re attending a Bible study or we’re taking our child to a new school we don’t want to be the one that nobody knows.
It made me think of a woman in the Bible who thought she was alone. Abraham’s concubine, Hagar, had a son named Ishmael, and when she was sent into the desert with her son she had no one who cared for her–-at least that’s what she thought. She carried much when she left Abraham’s tent. She carried the harsh words of her mistress, weighing deep in her heart. She also was weighed down with worries about her son. How would she find food and water? How would they survive?
Yet God saw her.
He reached out to Hagar and showed her His love. She cried to Him with thanksgiving.
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“You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me” (Gen. 16:13).
I don’t know about your life today. I don’t know if you’re alone … or if you feel alone even as you’re surrounded by people. Maybe you woke up today without having anyone you looked forward to seeing. But God sees you, even though you may feel like you’re alone, like I did in that crowd of women. God is there. God cares.
Tricia Goyer has written more than 35 books, including both novels that delight and entertain readers and nonfiction titles that offer encouragement and hope. She has also published more than 500 articles in national publications such as Guideposts, Thriving Family, Proverbs 31 and HomeLife Magazine.
