Happy Sabbath, friends!

In honor of Suicide Prevention Month taking place this September, I decided to center today’s message around hope, mental health, and the reminder that even in our darkest moments, we are never unseen by God.

This topic carries a lot of importance for me because there was a time in my own life when I did not want to be here anymore. My mind became consumed with very dark thoughts, and at the time, it was difficult for me to imagine that life could ever feel different.

Praise be to God that I am still here today.

When I look back on that season of my life, I sometimes think about everything I would have missed if my story had ended there. There has been so much goodness, growth, healing, love, purpose, and joy that I could not have imagined while I was walking through that darkness.

God showed me that my life still had purpose with Him at the center, and I will forever be grateful for the ways He continued carrying me forward.

During that season, I experienced deep feelings of loneliness, rejection, and uncertainty. Those feelings became so overwhelming that I began believing lies about my worth and whether my life still mattered.

But a little spoiler from the other side of that season…

It did get better.

Praise God.

Seen In The Wilderness

There is someone in the Word of God whose story stands out to me when I think about loneliness, rejection, uncertainty, and feeling abandoned.

Her name was Hagar.

While Scripture does not tell us that Hagar was suicidal, her story does show us someone who endured tremendous pain, mistreatment, uncertainty, and moments when her circumstances appeared completely hopeless.

Genesis 16:1–8 (NIV)
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.” “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.”

Hagar found herself in an incredibly complicated situation. She became pregnant with Abram’s child after Sarai gave her to Abram, and conflict quickly followed.

After Hagar conceived, tension developed between her and Sarai, and Scripture tells us that Sarai mistreated her. Eventually, Hagar fled into the wilderness.

She was pregnant, hurting, uncertain about her future, and separated from the household she had known.

Yet even there, God found her.

The God Who Sees

Genesis 16:9–13 (NIV)
“Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 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.” 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.””

What stands out to me most is that Hagar discovered something incredibly personal about the character of God.

He saw her.

She was not simply another person caught within Abram and Sarai’s complicated story. She mattered individually to God.

Her pain mattered.

Her future mattered.

Her life mattered.

And the same is true for us.

There will be moments when our circumstances cannot immediately be changed and seasons when the only way forward is through something difficult. But we do not have to walk through those seasons alone.

At the same time, trusting God through hardship does not mean remaining in abuse or refusing help. Sometimes God’s provision may include boundaries, distance, counseling, medical care, trusted friends, family, pastors, or other people He places around us.

Whatever the path forward looks like, His presence can remain with us through it.

Isaiah 43:2 (NIV)
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

God saw Hagar in the wilderness, and He sees us in ours.

It does not matter how messy, painful, confusing, or overwhelming the situation may feel — there is no place so dark that His presence cannot reach us.

He Shows Up Again

Hagar’s first wilderness experience was not the last hardship she would encounter.

Years later, she once again found herself outside Abraham’s household — this time with her son, Ishmael.

Genesis 21:8–16 (NIV)
“The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.”

Hagar and Ishmael wandered through the wilderness until their water was gone.

The situation became so desperate that Hagar placed her son beneath a bush, walked away, and wept because she could not bear to watch him die.

This is one of the most heartbreaking moments in her story.

She could not see a way forward.

But God could.

Genesis 21:17–20 (NIV)
“God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.”

God heard the boy crying.

He spoke to Hagar.

He opened her eyes to the provision she could not see before.

And Scripture tells us that God remained with Ishmael as he grew.

That part of the story means so much to me because sometimes despair convinces us that what we can see right now is all there will ever be.

Hagar saw an empty water container and believed the end was approaching.

God saw a future.

You Cannot See The Whole Story Yet

I am certain Hagar could not fully understand what God was doing while she was sitting in the wilderness.

She could only see what was directly in front of her.

And that is often true for us too.

When we are experiencing depression, grief, rejection, loneliness, or another painful season, it can become incredibly difficult to imagine a future that feels different from the present.

But not being able to see what comes next does not mean there is nothing ahead.

John 13:7 (NIV)
“Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.””

When I think back to the darkest season of my own life, I certainly could not see everything God still had ahead of me.

I could not see the future relationships.

I could not see the healing.

I could not see the opportunities.

I could not see the ministry.

I could not see the moments of joy that would eventually make me grateful that I stayed.

But God could.

He Sees You Too

Just as God saw Hagar, He sees you.

He sees the pain you may be facing.

He sees the tears no one else knows about.

He sees the exhaustion, rejection, uncertainty, loneliness, and fear.

We live in a broken world where painful things happen, and following Christ does not mean we will never experience suffering.

But God has promised that we do not have to walk through suffering without Him.

Trials can shape perseverance, deepen our dependence upon God, and strengthen our faith — but we should never mistake suffering itself as proof that God has abandoned us.

James 1:2–4 (NIV)
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Pain can make us feel invisible, forgotten, or convinced that there is no way forward.

But God’s presence is not absent simply because life feels dark.

Hagar thought she was alone in the wilderness.

God had never lost sight of her.

And He has not lost sight of you either.

Psalm 34:15, 17–19 (NIV)
“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;”

Your Story Is Still Being Written

If you are currently walking through darkness, I want you to remember something Hagar’s story demonstrates so beautifully:

What you can see right now is not necessarily the end of your story.

There may still be provision you cannot see yet.

Healing you cannot imagine yet.

People you have not met yet.

Places you have not been yet.

Prayers that have not been answered yet.

And purpose that has not yet unfolded.

Please stay long enough to see what God may still have ahead.

And if the weight you are carrying has become too heavy, please tell someone.

Reach out to a trusted friend, family member, pastor, counselor, doctor, or mental health professional. Asking for help does not mean you have failed spiritually. Sometimes allowing another person to help carry the burden is one of the ways God provides care.

I pray over each and every person reading this message today who may be facing darkness or a difficult trial.

Lord, remind them that You see them.

May they know that their life carries value even when they cannot feel it themselves. Surround them with people who will listen, support them, and help carry what feels too heavy.

May they experience Your presence in the wilderness and remember that darkness does not have the final word.

Thank You for being the God who sees us, hears us, and remains beside us through every season.

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Amen.

**If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or feel that you may be in immediate danger, please reach out for support. In the United States, you can call or text 988 to connect with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You do not have to carry this alone**