El Roi

Scripture: Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, "Have I also here seen Him who sees me?" Genesis 16:13

Observation: Hagar is in distress. She is pregnant - not by her own will - and is now outcast. She is humiliated, bullied, beaten, rejected, and alone. In this state, God shows up though he had no real interaction with her before, and both comforts and instructs her to proceed on the path of bearing and raising her son, while going through this hard time. Hagar responds with this ... that she acknowledges that God has seen her and her trial, and she has heard from him.

Application: In my time of distress, this was the one absolutely clear word I received ... "I see you."

God saw me in my depressed, downtrodden, fearful, humiliated, lonely condition. He saw me, and he saw my circumstance, and he saw the causes, and he saw the injustice, and he saw the lies, and he saw the pain ... and he saw my future. And he told me so.

That day I wept with every emotion. I wept with sadness, joy, hope, despair, love, anger. I did not want to walk through that circumstance, but I knew the Lord saw me, and cared so much about me and my family.

I will never forget the word the Lord gave me that day. Being seen by God - having my situation seen by God - is something I can never repay, and can only now serve the Lord to the best of my ability for his love and mercy.

Prayer: Lord, you are Abba, my father. You are Yahweh Yireh, the Lord who provides. And you are El Roi, the God who sees me. Thank you, my Lord and my God, my redeemer and my protector. May my life serve you as a living sacrifice, and may my words and actions be a holy aroma, pleasing to you. Amen.