Hope That God Sees
SUNDAY, June 14
Genesis 16:1-13
Hagar’s story begins long before she runs into the wilderness. She enters Scripture as a foreign woman with little agency, woven into a family carrying God’s promise. For years, she lived with Abraham and Sarah in Canaan, yet remained vulnerable and dependent on their decisions.
When Sarah could not conceive, she offered Hagar to Abraham as a surrogate, an accepted custom at that time. Hagar’s status rose, but not her belonging. When she became pregnant, the tension between the two women escalated. Scripture tells us Sarah “mistreated” her, a word that suggests harshness and humiliation. Whatever happened, it was severe enough that Hagar fled.
At a spring along a desert road, however, the Angel of the Lord finds her. He calls her by name, asks where she has come from, and names the truth she is running from. She is known and seen.
Then comes grace and mercy: a direction to return, a promise of protection, and a blessing over the son in her womb. His name, Ishmael, means “God hears,” a reminder that even unshed tears rise to heaven as prayers. In response, Hagar becomes the first person in Scripture to name God: El Roi, or the God who sees me.
This is where her story speaks hope into ours. It is hope for anyone who has been overlooked, used, unnoticed, or pushed to the margins. It is hope for women in ministry who serve faithfully yet fight to be acknowledged. It is hope for men who carry invisible burdens with courage. It is hope for caregivers, supporters, helpers, and those who feel like they have slipped through the cracks of other people’s priorities.
Hagar reminds us that God sees what others refuse to see. God notices the hearts that ache in private. God speaks to those the world dismisses. And God builds redemptive stories out of the very lives others treat as expendable. Yes, God sees.
Prayer
God who sees, thank you for meeting us in the lonely places, calling us by name, and honoring the parts of our story that others dismiss. Where we feel unseen, tend to our hearts. Where we feel insignificant, speak your purpose. Help us remember that you are the God who sees. Amen.
Hope That God Sees Our Obedience And Courage
Monday, June 15
Exodus 4:24-26
Zipporah enters Scripture as a woman rooted in a rich cultural heritage. A Midianite woman, ethnically and culturally distinct from the Israelites, she is part of the often unspoken presence of women of color in the biblical narrative. She was the daughter of Jethro, a respected priest of Midian, and it was in her family’s home that Moses found refuge after fleeing Egypt.
For forty years, Zipporah stood beside Moses in Midian, long before he became the leader we know. She raised a family, supported Moses during years of obscurity, and shared life with a man still learning who he was. Her faithfulness formed the backdrop of Moses’s healing and restoration.
The story in Exodus of their journey back to Egypt reveals her strength. God had called Moses to lead his people out of bondage, yet Moses had neglected the core expression of the covenant of circumcising their son. Scripture tells us the Lord confronts Moses in a life-or-death moment.
It is Zipporah who understands the gravity of the situation and acts with courage. It is Zipporah’s swift obedience that secures God’s covenant, ensuring that Moses will live to lead Israel into freedom. Her actions are decisive, sacrificial, and spiritual. She becomes a protector of the covenant and a preserver of God’s unfolding story.
Her story echoes that of such women as Coretta Scott King, the wife of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose courageous obedience undergirded a movement. Coretta stood in the shadows of history’s spotlight, yet her strength upheld a vision larger than herself. Long after Dr. King’s death, she carried the dream forward with her own prophetic voice. Both she and Zipporah remind us that stories behind the scenes are often the stories God uses to uphold his plans.
Zipporah reminds us that God sees our faithfulness. The same God who honored her courage honors ours, however unseen it may feel. Her story invites us to pause and notice where God may be affirming our hidden obedience and to trust that he weaves every overlooked moment into his larger promise.
Prayer
God who sees, thank you for reminding us that our obedience—large or small, seen or unseen—matters to you. Help us to say yes, and give us strength to serve faithfully wherever you have called us. Let your presence assure us that we are known, empowered, and held in your care. Amen.
Hope That God Sees Every Gift We Bring
Tuesday, June 16
Exodus 35:22, 25-26; 38:8
When Scripture describes the building of the Tabernacle, the place where God would dwell among his people, it highlights the artistry of men like Bezalel and Oholiab. Woven through the story are unnamed women whose offerings, skills, and presence shaped Israel’s worship life. These women brought personal treasures of gold, jewelry, and precious ornaments—gifts that were often passed down through generations and set aside for security. Their generosity was sacrificial and heartfelt. They also brought their time and talent. Scripture calls them “wise-hearted,” a phrase referring to Spirit-given talent and developed skill. They spun fine linen, vibrant yarns, and goat hair, materials that would beautify the place where God’s presence would abide.
Although their names are not recorded in Scripture, the impact of their contribution remains. Every thread, texture, color, and offering contributed to the beauty of God’s dwelling. Together, their diverse gifts formed a kind of sacred mosaic, much like the diversity of cultures, languages, and expressions within the body of Christ today. Just as woven fabrics bring together different fibers, hues, and textures, the worshiping community becomes more beautiful when each person contributes their own God-given gifts of time, talent, resources, personality, experience, creativity, and cultural heritage. Every offering adds texture to what God is building.
For anyone who feels their contribution is small or unseen, these women remind us that God sees every gift. Whether you serve up-front or behind the scenes, whether your offering is creative, practical, administrative, relational, or spiritual, God receives it as worship. Your skills, your story, your generosity, your presence are threads God weaves into something far larger and more beautiful than you may ever see from where you stand.
Perhaps the gentle nudge of this passage is to consider what God is inviting you to offer in this season. Not out of pressure, but out of the same willing heart these women carried.
Prayer
God who sees, thank you for the gifts you’ve placed within each of us. Teach us to recognize their worth in your eyes and to offer them freely and joyfully. Knit our diverse gifts together into something beautiful for your glory. Amen.
Hope That God Sees Those Who Enter Unexpected Spaces
Wednesday, June 17
Nehemiah 3:12
When Nehemiah led the effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, the work was heavy and physically demanding. Chapter 3 reads like a list of skilled laborers—priests, craftsmen, family leaders each repairing a section of the wall. And then, tucked into the middle of the record, we find a surprising line: “Shallum…made repairs, he and his daughters” (v. 12, NRSVUE). Just one sentence, yet it opens a doorway into a remarkable story.
Daughters were not expected to build city walls. That was strenuous, gritty, backbreaking work—often done under threat of attack. We don’t know precisely what Shallum’s daughters did, but we do know that repairing the wall was no easy task. They may have carried stones, transported materials, mixed mortar, or supported the rebuilding in other essential ways. Nehemiah wrote their participation into the story of God’s people because their contribution mattered. God made sure they would be remembered for participating in the work placed before them.
Their story speaks to anyone who has ever moved into a space others said wasn’t for them—women called to lead pastor roles, men gifted in nurture, or anyone who has ever heard or felt, “You don’t belong here.” It speaks to those who take risks or walk in places that feel unwelcoming.
Shallum’s daughters remind us that God sees every act of faith, especially the ones that break the mold. He sees the person who steps forward when others hold back, the one who works in difficult places, and the one who follows his call even when the role is outside the box. Let this truth settle in your heart: If God called you to it, God sees you in it. And he honors the strength it takes to stand there.
Prayer
God who sees, strengthen us to follow your calling, even in challenging places. When we feel out of place or overlooked, remind us that you see our work and honor every step of obedience. When we face closed doors and closed minds, make a way. Help us to persevere and stand with confidence in the places you invite us to build. Amen.
Hope That God Sees Mission Partners
Thursday, June 18
Luke 8:1-3
As Jesus traveled from town to town proclaiming the good news, he wasn’t alone. Luke pauses to name women who journeyed with him—Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others—whose lives had been touched by his healing and whose hearts overflowed with gratitude.Luke tells us they provided for Jesus “out of their own means” (v. 3, NIV). Their support was practical and personal, offering hospitality, financial provision, travel resources, prayer, companionship, and presence. Their gifts made ministry possible.
While it may feel ordinary to us today, that was anything but ordinary in its time. In a patriarchal culture where women were rarely invited into public ministry or viewed as spiritual partners, Jesus welcomed these women as disciples and coworkers. He didn’t merely allow their presence—he affirmed their contributions and folded their gifts into the work of the kingdom.
Yet even that radical inclusion isn’t the whole story. These women are remembered not because they defied cultural norms, but because their love for Jesus moved them to serve, give, and walk with him wherever he led. Their story offers hope to us that God sees every ministry contribution of women and men—each offering of time, prayer, wisdom, compassion, leadership, creativity, or support. Whether the work happens behind the scenes or in public view, God receives it as part of his unfolding mission. In this brief passage Jesus reveals his vision for the kingdom: a community where women are welcomed as disciples, valued as ministry partners, and invited fully into the work of God. By naming them, Luke shows us that the mission of Jesus has always depended on the shared gifts of all God’s people.
Prayer
God who sees, thank you for inviting both women and men into your mission. Help us recognize the value of every contribution and to honor the gifts you have placed within each of us. Make us a community that celebrates the offerings of all your people, just as Jesus did. Amen.
Hope That God Sees Sacrifice Born Of Trust
Friday, June 19
Mark 12:41-44
We live in a world that celebrates big gifts. Buildings carry donor names. Monetary gifts are measured in commas and zeroes. We instinctively applaud generosity that looks large and public. But the kingdom of God does not measure the way the world measures.
As Jesus sits in the temple courts, he watches people bring their offerings. Many wealthy contributors come forward with gift after gift, heavy with coins, impressive by any standard. Then a widow steps into the scene, almost invisible beside the grandeur around her. She carries two small copper coins—together worth less than a penny. For most people watching, her gift would have been insignificant.
But Jesus sees differently. He tells his disciples that she has given “more than all the others” (v. 43, NRSVUE) because her sacrifice was great. Mark tells us she gave “all she had to live on” (v. 44). As a widow, she had limited means, little social protection, and no margin. Her gift was an act of trust. She placed her whole livelihood—her “bios,” her very life—into God’s hands.
In the economy of heaven what she gave was extraordinary. This widow reminds us that God sees the offering that stretches us, the generosity that feels risky, the surrender that comes not from abundance but from faith. Her story speaks hope into the places where we wonder if what we offer matters, inviting us to trust more deeply. God sees the heart that gives out of love, devotion, and dependence on him. In his kingdom nothing offered in trust is ever small.
Prayer
God who sees, thank you that you look beyond amounts and appearances to the heart. Teach us to trust you with our lives, our resources, and our hopes. Where we feel the cost of generosity, meet us with the assurance that you see, you know, and you honor every act of trust. Amen.
Hope That God Sees Because He Knows Us By Name
Saturday, June 20
Isaiah 43:1-2
Throughout this week, we have walked with women whose stories could have been lost to history—women overlooked by culture, unnamed in genealogies, or pushed to the margins of their communities. Yet Scripture invites us to see what God sees: their courage, their devotion, their sacrifice, their faith.
Hagar, running into the wilderness, discovers a God who calls her by name. Zipporah, acting swiftly, becomes part of preserving God’s covenant story. The women at the Tent of Meeting bring the work of their hands to make space for God’s presence. Shallum’s daughters stand on a wall no one expected them to build. The women who traveled with Jesus fuel his ministry with open hearts and willing hands. A widow gives the smallest of coins, and Jesus elevates her offering above all the rest. Each story holds its own beauty, but together they offer testimony that God sees the faithful and the overlooked because he knows them by name.
Isaiah speaks this truth with tenderness and strength: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine” (v. 1, NRSVUE). God’s seeing is never detached. His noticing is never passive. He sees us because we belong to him, because he has named us, claimed us, and written us into his redemption story. That means your story, your faith, your offering, your obedience—whether bold or quiet, public or hidden—is known to God in ways deeper than you can imagine.
Our hope this week is simple: you are seen because you are his. The God who calls you by name walks with you into every place where you feel unseen, unnoticed, or unsure if what you bring matters. His presence goes before you, surrounds you, and holds your story with care.
Prayer
God who sees, thank you for calling us by name and holding our lives with such tenderness. When we feel uncertain about our place, remind us that we belong to you. Steady our hearts and give us confidence to enter the spaces where you have called us. Thank you for walking with us into every moment, upholding every faithful step, and delighting in every gift of devotion we offer. Amen.
