Having Eyes to See | Ps Eric Harrison

Devotional

Day 1: The God Who Sees You in the Wilderness

Hagar sat alone by a desert spring, discarded and invisible. Yet God met her there, calling her by name and revealing Himself as El Roi—the God who sees. This truth dismantles the lie that our pain, shame, or hidden struggles escape divine notice. When we feel overlooked by others or buried under unmet expectations, God’s gaze pierces through every shadow. He sees not just our circumstances but the raw ache beneath them. His vision births purpose where we see only ruin. [10:11]

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi.
(Genesis 16:13–14, ESV)

Reflection: Where in your life have you felt unseen or overlooked? How might God’s declaration to Hagar—“I see you”—reshape your understanding of His presence in that place?

Day 2: Burning Bushes in Ordinary Places

Moses tended sheep in a barren landscape when fire erupted from a mundane bush. What seemed ordinary became holy ground. God often speaks through unremarkable moments—a conversation at a village dinner, strangers dancing on a street, a cross around a neighbor’s neck. Our distraction with grandeur blinds us to sacred interruptions. The divine flickers in the routine, inviting us to “turn aside” and recognize His presence. [12:13]

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” (Exodus 3:2–3, ESV)

Reflection: What “ordinary” moment this week might be God’s invitation to encounter Him? How could pausing to “turn aside” open space for His voice?

Day 3: Seeing Beyond the Surface to the Thirst Within

Jesus saw the Samaritan woman’s fractured history—five husbands, societal rejection, a parched soul—and offered living water. He bypassed surface judgments to address her deepest thirst. People around us wear masks of competence or indifference, yet ache for acceptance. Seeing as Christ sees means looking past behaviors to the hunger beneath: the longing to be known, forgiven, and filled. [22:29]

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him. (John 4:28–30, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life might be carrying an “empty water jar” of hidden thirst? How can you offer Christ’s compassion instead of judgment?

Day 4: Fields White With Harvest in Your Backyard

Jesus told His disciples to lift their eyes—the Samaritans approaching were not enemies but a harvest. We often miss opportunities because we label people as “too secular,” “too resistant,” or “too different.” Yet fields ripe for harvest surround us: coworkers, neighbors, even strangers at a community pool. The call isn’t to force conversations but to notice readiness and respond with bold gentleness. [24:38]

Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. (John 4:35, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you assumed someone was “not ready” to hear about Christ? What would it look like to approach them with expectancy rather than assumption?

Day 5: “Look at Us”: Seizing Divine Interruptions

Peter and John interrupted their temple routine to fix their gaze on a lame beggar. What seemed like a distraction became a divine appointment. Opportunities often hide as inconveniences—a delayed errand, an awkward chat, a neighbor’s grief. Our mission isn’t to manufacture moments but to recognize the Spirit’s nudge in the unplanned. A single seed planted can ignite a lifetime of transformation. [26:24]

And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” (Acts 3:4–6, ESV)

Reflection: When has an interruption recently annoyed or inconvenienced you? How might God be inviting you to see it as a doorway for His power?

Sermon Summary

Jesus’ call to make disciples carries more than a command to speak. Jesus sees crowds, feels compassion, and names them as distressed and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd. That compassion begins with sight. Physical eyes can look at people all day and still not really see them, but spiritual sight recognises pain, searching, emptiness, and the work of God already happening.

God first gives His people eyes to see Him. Hagar sits alone, rejected, pregnant, and discarded at a spring in the wilderness, yet God meets her there. Hagar names Him “the God who sees me,” because she has seen the God who saw her first. God sees the pain, disappointment, failure, and unanswered promises that people carry, and He does not turn away. God becomes the source of anything that can be shared with another person, because those who do not see God have nothing life-giving to give.

Moses also turns aside to see a strange thing, a bush burning without being consumed. The burning bush pictures a life and a church on fire for God without being destroyed by that fire. God still turns up in unexpected places, sometimes through people doing something that looks strange enough to make another person stop and say, “What is this?” A few young people worshipping and dancing in a street became a burning bush for searching surfers, and God used that simple public joy to light a flame that touched hundreds of lives.

Jesus then gives eyes to see people. Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and exposes the truth of her broken world without rejecting her. Jesus sees five husbands, a present relationship, agony, disappointment, and disillusionment, yet offers living water. The woman leaves with an encounter and calls others to come see the One who told her everything about her life. Jesus lifts His disciples’ eyes toward the fields, because people everywhere are trying to fill a void with things that can never satisfy.

Opportunity becomes the third kind of sight. Peter and John look intently at the lame man and say, “Look at us.” A cross around someone’s neck, a conversation on a walk, a baptism by a river, a monthly dinner, or a simple line by the water can become a moment for seed to be sown. God does the work. Faithfulness simply notices, speaks, serves, and steps into the moment. A city on a hill shines through good works, giving lost people a safe place to look toward in the dark.

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Key Takeaways

1. God sees the rejected and wounded God meets Hagar when her life has become a place of rejection, fear, and isolation. God’s sight is not cold observation, because He sees the whole story, including pain that others have caused and failures that still accuse the heart. God’s people can only carry that kind of compassion when they first know themselves as people fully seen by Him. [10:11]
2. Turning aside makes room for God Moses sees the bush, but the decisive moment comes when he turns aside to look. God often works in ways that interrupt routine, disturb neat expectations, or appear strange at first glance. Spiritual sight requires attention, because distraction can cause people to miss the fire of God burning right in front of them. [12:13]
3. Jesus sees brokenness without rejection Jesus tells the Samaritan woman the truth about her life, yet He does not use truth as a weapon to push her away. His knowledge of her brokenness becomes the doorway to living water and a restored witness. Grace does not pretend sin is absent, but grace sees deeper than sin and offers a real way home. [22:29]
4. The fields are already ready Jesus tells His disciples to lift their eyes because the harvest is not merely future tense. People may not use Christian language for their hunger, but emptiness, grief, searching, and weariness often reveal a deeper cry for Christ. Spiritual sight stops waiting for a perfect moment and recognises that God is already drawing people. [24:16]
5. Small seeds can carry eternal weight Opportunity may begin with a question, a kind word, an act of service, or a brief conversation. God does not require every encounter to become a full explanation of the gospel, because one person may sow while another reaps. Faithfulness means noticing the opening and trusting God with what grows after the seed is planted.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:32] - Having Eyes to See
[03:08] - Jesus Calls the Church to Disciple
[04:23] - Compassion for the Crowds
[05:19] - A City on a Hill
[07:16] - Seeing God, People, and Opportunity
[07:33] - Hagar Meets the God Who Sees
[11:20] - Moses and the Burning Bush
[14:51] - A Strange Thing That Drew Seekers
[20:33] - Jesus Sees the Samaritan Woman
[23:35] - Lift Your Eyes to the Harvest
[25:30] - Seeing Everyday Opportunities
[30:19] - Sowing Seeds in Simple Moments
[31:22] - A Prayer for Eyes to See

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 9:36-38
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” [04:34]

John 4:35
“Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” [24:09]

Genesis 16:7-13
“The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, 'Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?' She said, 'I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.' The angel of the Lord said to her, 'Return to your mistress and submit to her.' The angel of the Lord also said to her, 'I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.' And the angel of the Lord said to her, 'Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.' So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, 'You are a God of seeing,' for she said, 'Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” [10:11]

Observation questions

In Matthew 9:36–38, what does Jesus notice about the crowds, and what feelings and actions flow from what He sees? [04:34]
In Hagar’s encounter in Genesis 16:7–13, what parts of her situation show that she was vulnerable and alone, and how does she respond after God speaks to her? [10:11]
What does Jesus tell His disciples to do in John 4:35, and what picture does He use to describe the people around them? [24:09]
What simple moments were described as opportunities to sow a seed—rather than trying to do everything in one conversation? [29:05]

Interpretation questions

Jesus’ compassion for the crowds began with seeing their distress. What is the difference between noticing people physically and seeing the deeper burdens they may be carrying? [01:48]
Hagar calls God “the God who sees me.” How might knowing that God sees pain, disappointment, and failure change the way a person receives His care and then cares for others? [10:27]
Jesus speaks truthfully about the Samaritan woman’s broken life without rejecting her. What does this show about how grace and truth can work together in a conversation with someone who is hurting or far from God? [22:29]
Jesus says the fields are ready for harvest now, not only later. What might keep believers from recognising that God is already at work in the people around them? [24:02]

Application questions

Where in life does someone in the group most need to remember that God sees them fully—not only their struggles or failures, but also their pain and disappointment? What would it look like to bring that honestly to Him this week? [10:36]
Who is one person regularly encountered—at home, work, school, in the neighbourhood, or during everyday routines—who may be carrying more than they show? What is one caring way to notice them this week?
What distractions or habits make it easy to walk past the “burning bushes” God may be using to get attention? How could someone make more room to turn aside and notice what God is doing? [14:41]
Think of a recent conversation with someone who does not yet follow Jesus. Was there a moment to ask a gentle question, offer help, share hope, or simply listen more carefully? What could be done differently next time?
What is one small “seed” that could be planted this week—a kind word, an invitation, an offer to pray, a practical act of service, or a simple question about faith? [30:21]
Jesus calls His people to be light through good works, giving others a safe place to look toward in the dark. What good work could the group do together or encourage in one another that would make God’s love more visible? [06:37]

Sermon Clips

36s

#GodSeesYou

“He sees this woman, the brokenness of her life. When he asks her to go and get a husband that comes, she says, I have no husband. And he answers, you are correct. You've had five, and the person you're with now is not your husband. But he doesn't reject her. He's just showing her that he sees her. He sees all of her agony, all of her pain, all of her disappointment, all of her disillusionment. He sees it all, but he doesn't reject it.”

43s

#LiveTheMission

“See people. Keep your eyes and your heart engaged on the mission. That's what we're called to do. Fields are wide under harvest. They're all around us. They live next door to us. They're at our workplace. We don't compromise ourselves by trying to preach the gospel when we should be working, but we just pick our time so we're careful with it. Okay? See opportunity. It can be a single moment, an act, a word, a service, sowing a seed, reaping a life. Amen?”

49s

#GodKnowsYourStory

“He exposes her world how it really is, and that's what God will do. He will expose our world to ourselves how it really is so that we realize that God truly sees But he's not rejecting us. He's offering us an opportunity. He's offering people an opportunity. You might be here today and think you're just not qualified or how could God love you because of all that's transpired in your life, but God sees you. He sees the real you. He doesn't just see all of our sin. He sees the things that have damaged us, the things that have caused us to respond in different ways.”

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