God knows everything. We tell each other that, and most of us would even say that we believe it. But sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s true. Things start to fall apart,and we wonder if God is still watching.
Being seen by God matters, as we can read in the example of Hagar. After God spoke to Hagar in the wilderness, she proclaimed in wonder:
“I have now seen the One who sees me” (Genesis 16:13).
She named the place where she’d encountered God, Beer Lahai Roi, which means “well of the Living One who sees me” (Genesis 16:14). What amazed her was not that she had encountered God, but that God had paid attention to her. That she had been seen.
A few months ago I was reminded again of the importance of being seen while I was studying in Revelation. In chapter 2, Jesus directs John to write to the church in Pergamum (in what is now Turkey):
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live – where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city – where Satan lives” (Revelation 2:12-13).
At the time this was written, Pergamum was an important center of the imperial cult, which sought to force everyone in the Roman Empire to worship the emperor. Powering this worship of the emperor was the devil himself; the believers in Pergamum were living in the very city “where Satan has his throne,” and “where Satan lives.” Even if Jesus’ words are taken as metaphorical rather than literal, the point is still clear: Pergamum was a stronghold of opposition to God, and not just human opposition; behind the oppression and persecution there was supernatural evil.
Yet Christ had planted a church there, right in the enemy’s heart, and they were faithfully bearing witness in the face of murderous persecution. Jesus wanted the believers there to know that he knew where they were; he had placed them there on purpose. And he also knew that they had been faithful, even under the threat of death. He was watching over them.
Antipas, whom Christ mentioned by name, is only known to us from this passage in Scripture. His only legacy, all the Holy Spirit wanted us to remember about him, was that he was a faithful witness who was executed for his testimony. Jesus’ reference to “the days of Antipas” implies that his death had occurred some significant amount of time earlier. Probably a number of years. Both Antipas and the rest of the church had been faithful, and Christ wanted them to know that he had seen it.
This was an important message, because there’s no indication that these believers had received any previous recognition for their faithfulness. In other words, they had remained loyal, even in the face of martyrdom, without receiving any immediate sign that God saw their struggles or their faithfulness. But even when it didn’t feel like God saw what was happening, he was watching. And at the right time, he let them know that their faithfulness had not been wasted or forgotten.
For us as well, it sometimes feels like God is not paying attention. But maturity in Christ means trusting that he is watching, even when we don’t receive any sign of his presence. God sees me when I stumble and when I disobey, but he also sees when I am faithful. He saw Antipas. He saw the believers in Pergamum. He sees you, and he sees me.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).