The God Who Sees

Wednesday - May 5th

Scripture to Read Today: Genesis 16:1-16

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She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her:

"You are the God who sees me."

Genesis 16:13

Her mistress mistreated her. She could not refuse what was asked of her. As a servant, a slave, she had no rights and no opinions. Out of desperation, she ran. She quickly found herself alone and defenseless. She had no shelter or food. And she was pregnant.

She felt scared, all alone, and unloved. She pondered whether or not anyone cared about her or her unborn baby.

Perhaps you've wondered like Hagar, "Does anyone care about me? Does anyone know what I'm going through?"

Maybe you have considered whether God even knows you or sees your pain. Hagar's story tells us that God does indeed know and see us - even when others do not.

Abraham and Sarah had concluded the only way God could keep His promise of a son to Abraham was for Abraham to impregnate the servant of Sarah. By the cultural customs of the day, the child would be considered the child of Abraham and Sarah. Hagar would have no rights to or relationship with the child. Due to the jealousy of Sarah and the sense Hagar had of being used as a tool to accomplish a task, tension developed between Sarah and Hagar. And, "tension" is an understatement.

Hagar fled to that place of loneliness by the well. The place where she wondered if anyone cared - if God cared.

In that place of desperation, God met Hagar. He promised that her baby (her son) would live and prosper. Her son would be the father of a great people. When God spoke to her through the Angel of the Lord, he started with her name, "Hagar." As God spoke, He knew her situation. He understood her fears. God gave her hope for her future and the future of her baby.

While Hagar's value seemed to be nothing in the eyes of Abraham and Sarah, God saw her and saw her value.

God met her in that moment, and she knew it. As Genesis 16:13 says, "She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me.'" In Hebrew, Hagar gave God the name "El Roi." That means, "The God Who sees." One of my favorite names for God is the name Hagar - the mother in distress - gave Him: El Roi!

I love the fact that El Roi came to Hagar. He sought her out and met her at the moment of her greatest need.

El Roi sees you in your plight. Your situation has not taken Him by surprise. He knows you and sees you.

Today as you pray, call Him by the name Hagar used for Him. Call Him El Roi - "the God Who sees!"

No matter where you are, how desperate you are, or how forgotten you feel, "the God Who sees" notices you!