Through Apostle Eckhardt’s prophetic word, God allowed me to know that he saw me by acknowledging the pain of my past and my struggles. God wants us to know that he sees us, and when we understand that, we will be able to see him. How does he reveal this to us? We can see an example in Hagar. God promised a child to Abram and Sarai; when the promised wasn’t fulfilled, she took matters into her own hands and offered Hagar, her maidservant, to her husband. Fast-forward, Hagar gets pregnant and has something Sarai doesn’t. (See Genesis 16:1–4.)

Has God given you something He hasn’t given to anybody else? You didn’t ask for it but you got it. Maybe God placed you in a position in ministry or you got a promotion at work.

Perhaps the very person who gave it to you now has turned on you. Abram kicks her to the curb. Have you ever been pushed aside? “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best. Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her” (v. 6 niv). Now, Hagar is on the run, but God pursues her. And He will do the same for you. How many times have we said, “God didn’t call me to be mistreated. I’m not taking that from him or her. I’m not going to go through that. Will God require us to submit to situations even when we are being mistreated?”

Yes, for a season.

“Then the angel of the Lord told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her’” (v. 9, niv). It may have been painful, but she submitted to God’s word: The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

—Genesis 16:10–12, niv

God gave her a prophetic promise, and with it she was able to endure the hardship and have hope. In the midst of that prophetic promise given to Hagar, God revealed Himself to her, and she declared Him to be “the God who sees me.” But she also was able to see the God who saw her. God has a prophetic promise for you and your children. “She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me’” (v. 13, niv). Allow God to reveal Himself through your brokenness as the God who sees you so you can also see the God who sees you. I was able to bear the next season of my life, knowing that God saw me, and I was able to see Him even in the midst of my own struggles.