El Roi

 

And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (Genesis 16:11-16 ESV).

 

Today we see a fourth name of God in the Old Testament. Our reading is a part of a larger story (cf. Genesis 16). The story centers on the painful triangle of relationships between Abram, Sarai, and Sarai’s slave Hagar. The story contains weakness, jealousy, competition, contempt, scorn, rejection, meanness, and other emotional violence. When the situation becomes unbearable, Hagar runs away. But now she is in a desperate situation: pregnant and alone in the desert.

 

But there’s grace and mercy in this raw story too. The name for God in this text draws from the Hebrew word roi, which has to do with “looking,” “appearance,” “seeing,” and “sight.” Alone and utterly forsaken in the desert, in her darkest moment, Hagar realizes that El Roi (pronounced “EL-raw-EE”), “the God who sees,” has never lost sight of her.

 

I find this description of the character of God very encouraging. Don’t we all find ourselves at times in desperate situations? Even if our circumstances are not desperate, they can certainly be difficult at times, and we can feel as if we have no hope. It is those very times when we may feel as if no one really “sees” us. But even in times of hopelessness, we can be assured: El Roi, “the God who sees,” is watching over us, seeing us, and providing for us in our darkest hour of need.

 

It is so easy to feel alone, as if there is no “us” in our lives. However, even in our bleakest moments we can know that El Roi, “the God who sees,” has never lost sight of us and promises to care for us. What greater companion in life can we find? He is our assurance in every circumstance of life.