Seen, Heard, and Understood. Finding Belonging in a World of IsolationEsimerkki

# El Shama, the God who hears me. In the last devotion, we read that Hagar called God El Roi, which means God hears, and then she named her newborn son Ishmael. It will come as no surprise to learn that the child’s name had a Godly meaning too. Ishmael is a combination of the Hebrew words for God (El), Hears (Shema), and Me; God hears me. The name reminded us of a fundamental truth that we find throughout scripture, God hears us. In Psalm 66, David says, “truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.” God himself says, “Call to me, and I will answer you” in the book of Jeremiah, and in the New Testament, John says we can be confident that 'if we ask anything according to His will' God will respond. As we read in our first devotion, God hears our shouts of praise, and in our second devotion, we read that God hears our cries of pain. Loneliness and isolation are painful, but know today that God hears your cry and wants to respond by offering you deep connection and unrelenting love.