All This Time, by Britt Nicole

Recently God has used the song All This Time by Britt Nicole to really speak to me.  This year I have been studying Genesis as part of a women’s Bible study, and because of that a certain line in Nicole’s song has stuck out to me.  In the second verse Nicole sings “You’re the God who sees, the God who rescued me.”  This part of the song brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.  The part of Genesis that I think of when I hear this line is when Hagar is in the desert running away from Sarai because she is being mistreated.  In Genesis 16 God meets her and  tells her to go back to Sarai and submit to her (16:9); but He also blesses her and tells her that through her son her descendents will increase and become too numerous to count (16:10).  Hagar replies “You are the God who sees me” (16:13). 

Two things that God has put on my heart:

 

First, I find it amazing that we have a God who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  The same God that met Hagar in the desert meats us today; the same God who revealed Himself to Hagar reveals Himself to us as well.

 

And second, I find it astonishing that God chooses to meet the Hagar’s of the world.  He chooses to meet the servants, the slaves, the people who no one else values, those we typically disregard and ignore.   Hagar was NOT the one whom God had chosen.  In fact she was, in a sense, rejected by God so that He could give His blessing through Sarai’s child.  And yet He still met her, blessed her, and revealed Himself to her.  This didn’t mean that Hagar’s life was perfect, in fact 14 years later, after she turned back to submit to her abusive master just as God had told her, she gets sent away (21:8-21).  Again she finds herself in the desert alone and fearful.  She believes that both her son and herself will die so she sits down and cries.  Once again God meets her there and provides for her needs (21:17-19), and He continues to live with and provide for them (21:20).

 

I remember reading this story in high school and underlying “You are the God who sees me.”  This verse brought confidence to me; it spoke of the character of God.  But it wasn’t until recently that I was able to directly relate to Hagar.  I have never been able put myself in the shoes of Hagar; I have always been the called, never the rejected.  Ever since I can remember God has sought me out and made me His own.  My very first childhood memory is accepting Jesus’ invitation to live within me and make my heart His home.  Thus there has never been a time in my life that I can remember living without God.  He has always been mine, I have always been His.  So Hagar is not a person I can easily identify with.  But I can identify with experiencing God’s presence in my time of need, I can identify with feeling His touch when I need it most.  I can look at myself and say “I am not worthy of God’s love and compassion and care,  I am a nobody but yet God is ‘the God who sees me’.”

 

I encourage you to listen to the song and think of the lyrics in light of Hagar.  Click here to listen to the song via You Tube.

All This Time, by Britt Nicole

I remember the moment, I remember the pain
I was only a girl, but I grew up that day
Tears were falling

I know You saw me

Hiding there in my bedroom, so alone
I was doing my best, trying to be strong
No one to turn to
That's when I met You

[Chorus]
All this time, from the first tear cried
'Till today's sunrise
And every single moment between
You were there, You were always there
It was You and I
You've been walking with me all this time
Ooh, oh, oohh, Ooh, oh, oohh
You've been walking with me all this time

Ever since that day, it's been clear to me
That no matter what comes, You will never leave
I know You're for me
And You're restoring

Every heartache and failure, every broken dream
You're the God who sees, the God who rescued me
This is my story
This is my story

[Chorus]

I hear these people asking me
How do I know what I believe
Well, I'm not the same me, and that's all the proof I need
I felt love, I felt Your grace
You stole my heart that day

(Ooh, oh, oohh), Oh,woah, (Ooh, oh, oohh)
You've been walking with me all this time

[Chorus]

[X2]

Ever since the first tear cried
It was You, You and I
You've been walking with me all this time