The One who sees me

My friend asked if I could fill in and teach her EFL (English as a Foreign Language) International Bible Study that met on Wednesday nights.  We were living in Richmond at the time and our church had a thriving EFL program. 

Noreta sent me the list of students and the lesson: an overview of Esther. I casually glanced over the names listed and noted their home countries. Korea. China. Taiwan.  

On Wednesday night I met the students as they assembled for the study. We started class and I began sharing from the Book of Esther.  Just a few minutes into the lesson, the door flew open. A woman wearing a head covering came striding in. With confidence and forthrightness, she declared, “I am Hoda M. I am from Egypt.”  

Daughter of Hagar, my heart said.  

The One who sees me

In our years of living in Pakistan, I had been particularly drawn to the story of Hagar. The Egyptian servant of Sarah. Hagar was the mother of Ishmael, the son of Abraham that Muslims identify with.  

Hagar knew God as “the One who sees me.” And they named a well after her encounter with Him in the wilderness: Beer Lahai Roi, “well of the Living One who sees me” (Genesis 16:9-14).

Years later when she found herself again cast out in the desert and her son was dying of thirst, God heard his cries and opened Hagar’s eyes to see a well of water. She filled a skin with water and gave Ishmael a drink (Genesis 21:14-20).  

I welcomed Hoda with these stories playing in my mind. Deeply aware that God sees her. But as she found a seat at one of the tables, I looked down at my notes–and realized what we were studying. Hoda was from a country and religion that looked upon Israel as the enemy. And we were looking at a book in which the Jewish people and their enemies are mentioned over and over. 

I began to pray that these particular words would not distract Hoda from God’s message.

God’s hand at work

I shared with the class that although God isn’t mentioned in the Book of Esther, we can see His hand at work throughout its chapters. We talked about God’s plan for His people and how He had a purpose for each person present at the Bible study. I noted it was no mistake that we were each in Richmond at this particular time. Then I briefly mentioned that we had lived in Pakistan.

Hoda stared. “Where in Pakistan?” 

“Karachi.” 

“Where in Karachi?”

“You know Karachi?” I asked.

“My husband is Pakistani. We lived there for five years on Khayaban-e-Shamsheer!”

The One who knows

Hoda and I had lived in the same Karachi neighborhood at the same time. I had driven on her street every day. We had shopped in the same stores and knew the same landmarks.  

But our paths crossed on the other side of the world. Our lives intersected during a study of Esther at a Baptist church in Richmond, Virginia. The one time I taught the Wednesday night EFL Bible study.

The One who reveals

I never saw Hoda again after our friendly exchange that evening.  But I knew our encounter was no coincidence.

I prayed for her. And wondered about “the rest of the story.” 

But in the midst of the unknown, I learned to worship the One who knows. To recount the faithfulness of the One who sees her. The One who hears. The Father who reveals the well of Living Water to those dying of thirst. 

“Jesus said, ‘Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.
But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him
will never get thirsty again.
In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water
springing up in him for eternal life.”
(John 4:13-14 CSB)

What about you?

Have you ever entered someone’s story “for such a time as this”–then wondered what happened next? Have you remembered and recounted His faithfulness with someone lately?