EL ROI — THE GOD WHO SEES ME
At one point in your life, have you ever cried out for help, yet felt invisible and forgotten?
Maybe we’re in a season of feeling depressed and overwhelmed, and we wonder if God is deaf to our cries. During our lowest of lows, when we feel lost, one can’t help but wonder if He is blind to our circumstances and unable to follow through with His promises.
As I am reminded daily, let your faith not falter. God finds lost people.
On our darkest days, He remembers to shed light and find us. It is during these moments that He is a witness to our struggles when we see two sets of footprints in the sand. God reminds us not to worry about our everyday lives.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
- Matthew 6: 25–26
After all, how much more does He care for us during times we need him most when He never fails to provide for the birds?
In today’s day and age, when we feel our most vulnerable, the most invisible, we can find hope and power in the name of El Roi, as shared by Hope Bolinger’s article, “Meaning and Importance of God’s Name ‘El Roi’- The God Who Sees Me”.
WHO IS EL ROI?
As shared in Bible Study Tools, we may be familiar with many of the names of God. We know him as Elohim and Yahweh. But what about El Roi?
We may have noticed that many names for God include “El.” El typically refers to God. But Roi brings another attribute of our Lord to the equation. El Roi means “the God who sees me.”
Ro’iy in the original Hebrew can be translated as a shepherd, or as seeing, looking, or gazing. When we feel our most vulnerable, the most invisible, we can find hope and power in the name of God, El Roi.
HAGAR AND EL ROI, THE GOD WHO SEES
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
- Genesis 16: 13b
An Egyptian slave, Hagar encountered God in the desert and addressed him as El Roi, “the God who sees me.” Notably, this is the only occurrence of El Roi in the Bible as shared in Crosswalk’s article, “Praying the Names of God”.
In Unlocking The Bible’s devotional, Denise Kohlmeyer, shares Hagar’s story of being mistreated by her mistress.
She’d not wanted to do what was asked of her, but as a slave with no rights or opinions, she had no choice. Out of desperation, she finally fled because she couldn’t take the abuse and the pain anymore; but she quickly found herself alone and defenseless, without shelter or sustenance. And pregnant, no less.
To say she felt scared, lonely, and unloved is an understatement. She wondered, in her despair, if anyone cared about her or what was happening to her or her unborn baby.
El Roi sought her out and arrived at the moment of her greatest need. At that moment, it was to be reassured that she was seen, that she was loved and not forgotten, that she and her unborn child (a son whom God named personally; yet another special blessing God showed Hagar) would be cared for.
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
- Psalm 147:3
God soothed Hagar’s worries and comforted her wounded, weary heart.
God promises that He will “never leave you nor forsake you”, and it is during our greatest times of need that El Roi pours out His grace and mercy upon us.
Through Hagar’s story, we realize the beautiful truth that God sees us, and by His grace and Word, he draws near and calls on us to have a little faith in Him.
GOD, MY EL ROI
Many times I’ve wondered, “God are you truly watching?”
My whole life, I’ve just wanted to be seen. And thankfully, Hagar’s story encourages me to believe that God sees me.
I am thankful for God’s faithfulness despite my unfaithfulness to Him, his unconditional and unwavering love, which is not bound by the constraints of time.
Melissa Spoelstra shares an inspiring message in her Proverbs 31 Ministries devotional that goes,
We’re never alone because we serve a God who sees us. We can rest knowing God is never unaware of what we are going through. El Roi saw Hagar, but He didn’t promise a quick fix to all her problems. He sees us, but He also sees the larger picture outside of the constraints of time.
Denise Kohlmeyer’s message through Unlocking The Bible adds a level of comfort too, knowing that God sees our situation.
El Roi is not blind to your plight. Your situation has not taken Him by surprise, although it may have taken you by surprise. Being omniscient (all-knowing), He sees exactly what is happening to you every second of the day — good and bad. Your situation — your very life — is always before his eyes. Nothing escapes His divine notice or attention. He meets us in our downcast state and pours out grace upon us.
Finally, we are assured by Ann Spangler’s wonderful devotion in Faith Gateway that goes,
The promise God had made to Hagar so many years before stretched itself thin during their time of trial, but never so thin as to break, for God upheld the word He had spoken years before. Remember this when you fail for a time to find God’s help or to receive answers to your prayers.
I AM DEEPLY LOVED
Hagar’s story provides so much hope for every person who feels emotionally abandoned or spiritually wounded. She discovered that she is deeply loved by God…and we should rejoice in the constant truth that we are all deeply loved by God.
In the midst of life’s chaos, our moment of silence allows us to hear the voice of God and see Him watching us. When we walk with God in faith and obedience, despite hardships and struggles we face in our lives, good will always come of it and blessings will follow.
“Hearing the sound of your outcry, God will answer you.”
- Isaiah 30:19
God sees us with eyes of love and knows our hearts all too well.
He brings us — those who are lost, weary, invisible, and forgotten, back to Him.