Overlooked: Finding Your Worth When You Feel All AloneSample

Day 2: The God Who Sees

One of my favorite names for God is El Roi, the God Who Sees. The first time we read this name in Scripture is in Genesis 16 when Hagar, the Egyptian servant of Sarah and Abraham, found herself pregnant, alone, and on the run.

Hagar was at the center of biblical history when Sarah offered her to Abraham in order to bear him children. Sarah was barren and this was her attempt to help God fulfill his covenant to make Abraham the father of many nations.

But Sarah’s plan didn’t go as she intended. When Hagar got pregnant with Abraham’s child, rivalry and jealousy grew between the two women. In her pain, Sarah dealt harshly with Hagar, likely criticizing her with hurtful and abusive language. Hagar fled from her mistress and started on a journey home to Egypt.

But something remarkable happened by a spring on the edge of a wilderness that changed the trajectory of Hagar’s life. God found her and spoke to her.

“Hagar…”

God blessed her, told her the gender of her baby, gave him a name, and spoke prophetically over Ishmael’s life. God didn’t just see a servant running from abuse, he saw her heart.

Because God saw who Hagar really was, her eyes were opened to who he really is. She spoke into the silence of the wilderness, “you are a God of Seeing.”

The name, El Roi, is sweeter because Hagar spoke it first.

It isn’t just that God sees, but that God saw her.Through Hagar, God showed that he doesn’t just see and love the key players, the righteous founding fathers of faith, those listed in the Davidic lineage, the ones from the right story line and bloodline and family line, the called and set apart, the covenantal children –he sees and loves the overlooked, too.

God never changes, he’s still El Roi right now, in this very moment. He’s still capturing the attention of hearts, He’s still pursuing the overlooked. He’s still seeing the suffering. He’s still calling names. Will you look up and meet the eyes of the God who looks after you?

El Roi, thank you for seeing me when I feel overlooked by others. Thank you for knowing my heart and meeting me in my mess. I praise you because you are the God Who Sees.