You Are a Worthwhile Possibility

No matter who you are or what you’ve done, God, the creator of the heavens and earth, cares about you. And what’s more awesome is that the very first person to ever call God by his name, El Roi, was an Egyptian slave, a castoff from the crowd, and a woman who by that day’s standard would be considered a nobody. But she wasn’t a nobody to God.

We meet this woman named Hagar in Genesis 16 when she is brought into the twisted saga of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, who is desperate to have a child. God promised Abraham that he would father a child late in life, and through that child, all nations would be blessed. The Reader’s Digest version of the story goes like this: Sarah became impatient for God’s plan. (I can relate to you, Sarah-girl.) She made the hasty decision to let her husband sleep with her maidservant. (I can’t relate to that! It’s messed up on so many levels!) Hagar conceived and gave birth to Ishmael. Sarah got jealous (imagine that), mistreated Hagar, and Hagar ran away.

So now, let’s join up with Hagar near a spring in the desert on the road to Shur (Gen. 16:7), where she converses with the angel of the Lord.

The angel listens and speaks prophecy over her unborn child. Scripture references the conversation this way: “The Lord talked to Hagar” (Gen.16:13 ERV). Hagar’s response is priceless. “She began to use a new name for God. She said to him, ‘You are “God Who Sees Me.”’ She said this because she thought, “I see that even in this place God sees me and cares for me!” (Gen.16:13 ERV).

God believes everyone is worth of seeing. He sees in us what no one else can: a worthwhile possibility.

God is El Roi, the God who sees. He sees our fears. He sees our faults. He sees our failures and frailties. We see them too, but unlike God, we allow these deficiencies to hold us back from walking out the calling God has for our life. Hagar had failed. She was part of a scheme that interrupted her life, but she didn’t wreck God’s plan. (Remember: his plans won’t be thwarted, no matter how royally we mess up.) God wants to use our weaknesses to strengthen us, rather than weigh us down.

Dictionary.com defines potential as “present but not yet visible, apparent, or actualized, excellence or ability that may or may not be developed; possible, as opposed to actual.” A person with potential is a worthwhile possibility. Despite our fears, faults, failures, and frailties, God sees all his children through the same lens:, the lens of potential. Our potential is present, but may not be visible; possible, but may not be actual. In Christ we are a worthwhile possibility. God can see our potential even when we can’t.

Do you struggle to believe God sees you as a worthwhile possibility?

He is the God who can do and the God who sees. He saw the first drink you ever took. He knows you went to the clinic and cried the entire time. He sees the links you click and the person you spend time with (who is possibly not your spouse). He sees you crying in the pillow as you process your overspending. He knows you have to sleep with the light on. He sees you standing in the unemployment line after losing another job. Maybe today you are like Hagar, feeling like a castoff, camped out in the desert of Shur, wondering, Does God even see me?

Oh, my sweet friend, may I lean in real close to speak truth? He sees your potential and believes you are a worthwhile possibility. You were destined for a great plan, “For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]” (Eph. 2:10 AMP).

God determines your destiny. Don’t allow your fears, faults, failures, and frailties to derail you from his plan. He has saved you and called you to a holy life—not because of anything you have done but because of his own purpose and grace, grace given to you in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time (See 2 Tim. 1:9). You are a worthwhile possibility!

Wendy Pope is the founder and president of Word Up Ministries. She is wife to Scott and mother to her grown children, one daughter and one son. Wendy is also a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries’ speaker team and the author of Wait and See: Finding Peace in God’s Pauses and Plans; Yes, No and Maybe: Living With the God of Immeasurably More; and Hidden Potential: Revealing What God Can Do Through You. She has been leading women all over the world to life change through her in-depth Read through the Word study of the One Chronological Bible. More information can be found at wendypope.org.

Photograph © Forgiven Photography, used with permission