We All long to be asked: where have you come from, where are you going

In the 16th chapter of Genesis, there's the story of a woman who felt seen for the very first time. It changed the direction of her life. And the world.

It's a change of direction we all have a bit of a longing for.

As the story goes, Abram - who God had promised a son with his wife Sarai - grew impatient with the process. Despite trying, Sarai hadn't conceived a child.

Feeling as helpless as Abram felt impatient, Sarai suggested that Abram should sleep with her maidservant - Hagar. Abram did. Hagar became pregnant. And as you can imagine, life gets messy for all involved.

A tension develops between Sarai and the woman carrying her husband's child. Imagine that.... Sarai becomes abusive to Hagar, so Hagar flees into the wilderness.

Where God shows up. Hagar wasn't running TO God in the wilderness, but God showed up there anyways.

The bible tells us that God found her near a spring in the desert. And he said to her, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?"

Where have you come from?

Where are you going?

Can you imagine God showing up in your life and asking you those questions? Can you imagine anyone showing up, chasing you into the wilderness of your life - you out of breath and all out of hope - with such interest in knowing: where have you come from - where are you going?

God told Hagar to go back to where she'd come from, assuring her everything would work out. Hagar did. Not simply because God told her to go back, but because she could feel in her heart God was going back with her.

Hagar said after her encounter with God, "I have now seen the One who sees me."

God showed up, inquiring about the hardships of Hagar's life. Once you get to a place where you just don't know about God, but feel known by the God you know - life changes. You start going directions you never would have gone when you felt unknown.

You no longer go into the wilderness to escape life, you go there to find it.

We all search for the places in life where the people we know show up to make sure we feel known. Being known - it's the great life giver.

God often showed up in the challenges of people's lives asking them questions he already knew the answers to. Why? To shame them with their answers?

I don't think so. I think he did so because he wanted people to know he cared about their answers.

I think he did because in the deepest parts of our souls, he knows we all long to know someone cares about our answers.

It's why we should all probably ask more questions of one another. Maybe even questions we know the answer to. Because it's not really the questions themselves that make the difference, it's feeling like someone would chase us into the wilderness to ask them that does.

It's feeling like the people who know us would do anything to make sure we feel known.

The world started with God saying I know you - and you are good.

We've been longing to feel known ever since.