The God Who Sees Me

 

Scripture

 Genesis 16:7-14

⁷ The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. ⁸ The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.

⁹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” ¹⁰ Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”

¹¹ And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. ¹² This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”

¹³ Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” ¹⁴ So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.  (New Living Translation)

 

Devotion

Did you know that out of all the people in the Bible, Hagar is the first one to name God.  Hagar's life is one of suffering and sorrow. As Sarai's slave, Hagar has been forced to follow Abram and Sarai on their journey through the wilderness.  Given that they never even use her name when they talk about her, it seems pretty clear that  Abram and Saria do not see Hagar as a real person.  To them, she is just as servant/slave--a tool to used, abused, and "given" as they wish.  And when it all comes too much to bear and Sarai turns, Hagar runs away.

When God seeks out Hagar sitting alone in the wilderness, she quickly learns that while Abram and Sarai may not truly see her, the God they followed into the wilderness.  God has seen her painful struggles and heard her cries of distress.  Now, God is ready to make her some promises: 

God promises Hagar that she will be the mother of more descendants than she can even count.  Her son that Abram and Sarai impregnated her with will grow up wild and untamed.  Yes, Ishmael and his descendants will live in hostility against Abram's coming son with Sarai and their descendants, but that means that they will live.  They will be be powerful.  Her son will live.  They will be free. And as Ishmael's name implies, God will always see and hear him and his descendants...just as God has seen and heard Hagar.

When Hagar names the God who came to her in the wilderness and made her these promises  אֵל רֳאִי  (El Roi): the God Who Sees Me .  She does so because she is stunned that God sees who for who she really is--for all that she is.  God sees her pain and her suffering.  God sees the injustice of her situation.  And God sees the way she yearns for a better future...not just for herself, but for the child she is carrying.  And the God who sees her will give her what she needs to go go back and serve Abram and Sarai a little longer.  She can do that, because she knows that the God Who Sees (and hears) her will protect her and her son Ishmael until the time is right for God's promise to come to fruition. 

I find El Roi to be one of scripture's most moving and personally affirming names for God.  To worship the God Who Sees Me is to worship the One who doesn't use people as tool for accomplishing God's own ends.  No, this is a God who truly sees, values, and loves each and every one of us for who we are.  For all that we are.  The God Who Sees Me rejoices in our joys and feels the sting of our sorrows.  El Roi knows when we are suffering and promises to get us through to the other side...even when getting there requires us to stay in the struggle for a while.  The God who Sees promises that while we and our descendants may encounter hostility as we travel through this life, we will be powerful.  We will be free.  We will be heard.  We will thrive.

Whatever brings you joy right now, whatever pains, sorrows, and injustices make your soul cry out in distress, I hope you know that God sees it.  God hears you.  The God Who Sees Me is making you some promises as he accompanies through the wilderness of life.  Each of those promises is for your good...never for your ill.  So let us lift up all that we are to the heavens and rejoicing that the One Who Sees Us will help us see Them.  And when see that God has truly seen us, life is never quite the same.

 

Prayer

 Thank you, El Roi, for being the God Who Sees Me.  May I feel your presence with me and trust in your promises as I travel through the wilderness.  Amen.