God recently healed me of a deep wound in my soul. It was the wound of not being ‘heard’ by some important people in my life.

The not being ‘heard’ was more than a one-off circumstance, it was a regular experience, and it caused me a lot of pain, as they were people I looked to.

What healed the wound however, was God showed me that He ‘heard’ me.

That ‘hearing’ isn’t just listening with ears, it’s deeper than that. It’s a knowing, valuing, understanding, accepting and receiving of who I am, warts and all.

God spoke this depth of hearing into my soul through what He said to the pregnant Hagar when she ran away from Sarah, after Sarah was mistreating her.

“You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.” Genesis 16:11

God met her in the deep place of her pain and need and told her that He had heard her cry. In-fact Ishmael means ‘God hears’.

As I read that scripture, I got a revelation that God totally understood who I was and what I’d gone through. He heard, loved, valued and understood my voice all those times when others couldn’t or wouldn’t. Suddenly He was there with me at all those times and I was accepted and valued. He didn’t reject me, as others had.

Hagar must have had a similar experience of healing from being ‘heard’ by God, as after this encounter, she was able to go back to Sarah’s house.

When we look at scripture, we think of Sarah as being the great one, the woman of faith, who gave birth to the son of promise, Isaac. Hagar is a second-class figure. We may feel some of Sarah’s despise for her and judge her, feeling no compassion for her plight.

We couldn’t imagine God valuing Hagar like He does Sarah, or speaking to her and revealing something of His nature that He hadn’t already revealed to Sarah. Yet He does! Both Sarah and Hagar had imperfections in their character and attitude, but God still heard and valued them both.

Their roles may have been different, but their value to God as people was the same.

There are times in life when we will be Hagar, the one who is rejected, mistreated, thought of as less, and in that not ‘heard’ or accepted by people.

There will also be times when we see others as Hagar, we may have a more powerful role, we may reject or mistreat them, thinking of them as less. In that we won’t really ‘hear’ them. All the while we’ll probably be blind to it, thinking we’re right.

I did just that with someone until last spring!

One day I was walking up our street and saw this lady just ahead. Because of how I had previously judged her, my first instinct was to slow down so I didn’t have to speak with her. But suddenly the excitement of another thought entered my heart, as I heard: “No, walk faster to catch her up, so you can speak with her!”

God was speaking to me His value of her, and as I responded to His voice in that moment and in the following months, to my great joy she became someone, to some measure, God has given me a friendship with. Someone I can make feel special, look out for, respect and listen to, with a heart that cares.

I hope and trust that it’s not just with her either, but that I’m increasingly able to accept and ‘hear’ more people with humility, and not reject them out of fear or pride.

God is able to ‘hear’ all of us, whoever we are, because He’s no ‘respecter of persons’.

For us to ‘hear’ one another like He ‘hears’ us, we need to “stop judging by mere appearances” too, as Jesus urged in John 7:24; whether that be a person’s dress, job role, where they live, or the outward appearance of their nature, speech, or actions.

God doesn’t want us to show favouritism to people who seem more likeable to us. He’s the same with everyone, and He wants us to be too.

To be ‘heard’ and valued brings healing. Let’s keep bringing who we truly are to God, in the deep places of our hearts, to be ‘heard’ and healed, and let’s keep being changed, so we can increasingly ‘hear’ others as God ‘hears’ us.