El Roi, God who Sees me

“So she named the LORD who spoke to her: You are El Roi, for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen The One who sees me?” Genesis 16:13

Read: Genesis 16:7-14

Genesis 16 follows Hagar, the Egyptian slave girl of Sarai, Abram's wife. Sarai began to mistreat Hagar after she used her to conceive a child for her when she was unable to conceive. After finding herself unable to put up with the mistreatment, Hagar runs away from Sarai into the wilderness. Here in the wilderness, she encountered God who asked her where she was coming from and where she was Going. Hagar went on to tell the LORD that she was running away from Sarai. Following Hagar’s response, the LORD told Hagar to return back to Sarai, and submit to her authority, and He was going to multiply her offspring. The LORD told her to name her son that she was pregnant with, Ishmael, meaning, “for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.”

The LORD didn’t tell her to continue running away from what she was going through but to return, and He was going to bless her and multiply greatly her offspring. Sometimes when we experience hurt or pain, we think that the LORD doesn’t care, He doesn’t see, or He’s forgotten about us. But that is not true at all. He met Hagar where she was, and rewarded her greatly for her obedience to Him and her trusting Him through the suffering. The LORD comforted Hagar and restored her with the promise of His Word. Hagar then recognized that God sees us, and named Him El Roi (God who sees me in Hebrew). He knows when no one else knows. He cares deeply enough to bring us through with the Truth of His promises.

Prayer

LORD Jesus, Thank You for seeing us. Thank You for hearing our cry in the wilderness when we think that no one is listening or when we feel like no one else cares. Thank You for setting us free with the Truth of Your Word. God, make Your Word real to us so that we know how much You love us, and that You are with us. Hide Your promises in our hearts, that the Holy Spirit may call it to mind when we are struggling to trust You or to hear Your voice. God, we choose to run to You when we don’t understand because You are the good Shepherd and You know the plans that you have for us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

Go Further Into Scripture

Exodus 3:7-8 "Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

God has not forgotten about you. He sees, hears, and knows your sufferings and sent His Son Jesus Christ down to rescue you, by offering you salvation through Him and an unfading hope in His eternal Kingdom that you can call to mind when things become too much for you to bear.

Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”

Sometimes things that don’t make sense will happen. That is life. But if we keep our hope in Christ and our eyes on Jesus, we can believe this promise that everything is working for our good. 

Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

We aren’t always going to have pleasant things happen to us, and being a Christian doesn’t mean that we will no longer experience pain or suffering. But we can be sure that even though we may weep in a season, the Joy of the LORD is to come.