El Roi

Seen and Loved

And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Genesis 16:13

Have you ever found yourself in a place at which you feel utterly discarded? Used and abused? Unloved? Forgotten? Unneeded or unwanted?

Hagar’s story in the Old Testament is one of mistakes on all sides. Sarai refused to be patient for the Lord, and acted without prayerfully considering her actions. Hagar, once elevated to the status of bearing a child for the master, became proud and haughty, looking down upon Sarai and her barren condition. Sarai quickly went to her husband, who gave her free reign with her maid. Hagar found herself mistreated and unwanted. So, she fled. She ran, and hid herself from her problems.

Hagar found herself in a desolate place, alone, pregnant, and with no means for caring for her unborn child.

But God…

God showed up. God came to Hagar in her time of need and ministered to her, spoke with her, and pointed her back onto the path He meant for her to travel. His intimate attention to Hagar is something we can all have with our Lord, in fact, if we have been saved, He has come to us, to seek us, to draw us to Himself. He comes to us, in our sin, in our pitiful and needy condition, and picks us up out of the pit and miry clay.

For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. Ezekiel 34:11

How glorious is it that we serve a God who not only sees us, but who seeks us out to meet our needs. The evidence of his knowledge of us is found throughout scripture. We can easily remember that God knows the number of hairs on our head, the number of our days, or beginning and our end… But he also knows the secret unseen things about us:

He sees and understands our heart:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:9-10

Our thoughts:

…thou understandest my thought afar off. Psalm 139:2b

 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Job 42:2

Our weaknesses:

For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. Psalm 103:14

When I really consider this, I know the depravity of my own heart from my view, but God, can see the truth of it. He knows the truth that I am not even able to admit to myself. He knows me to the core of my being, and yet, he still desires to have a relationship with me. Just as Hagar discovered as she hid from Abram and Sarai at the well in the wilderness… The great creator God that we serve is big and powerful enough to speak the world into existence, and yet, personal enough that He sat with her by the well, and spoke to her heart. For that reason she named Him “El Roi” The God That Sees ME. And, she went farther than that. She named the well Beerlahairoi “the well of him that lives and sees me”

How comforting is it that we can be assured that God sees us? And that regardless of His complete understanding of who we are and the depravity of our condition, He loves us!

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3

Regardless of where you find yourself, at the pinnacle of human achievement or at your lowest point ever, God sees you. Whether you are living a life of integrity or a life of thievery, God sees you. When it feels like no one cares, God sees you. When it feels like you are beyond help, God sees you. And He looks on us with a love that is so pure and holy, that it is beyond our understanding. He wants things for you that you can’t even comprehend. If you follow His lead, He will lead you places that you never could have imagined.

Look up, Beloved! You are never alone, never forgotten, never unwanted. He is there, searching you out in your time of trouble. Turn to Him!