Where They Are

Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.

– Genesis 21: 17

These words were spoken by an angel to Hagar
as she sat at a distance
waiting for her child to die.

She was out of water
and knew the boy could not live without it,
and she couldn’t bear to watch him suffer,
so she put him under a bush,
sat down a bowshot away and cried,
loudly.

And God heard the voice of the boy
where he was.

God hears the voice of children

where

they

are.

Not because of us.
Not because of parents or caretakers or teachers.
And not because we told God where to listen.

God hears the voice of children where they are.

When we are neck-deep in parenting,
or teaching,
or a myriad of other ways of being involved with children,
it is easy to forget that we are not the primary movers here.
God doesn’t love a child for any reason of which we have a part.
God just loves them.

God hears them,
God sees them,
God cares for them,
God saves them.

We do not carry these children alone.

Thanks be to God.