He misses nothing - The God who sees me

Today's name of God is found in Genesis 16, in the story of a woman named Hagar. She was an Egyptian slave, a person of little significance in the world she lived in. In fact, as her story begins, she is being used like a piece of property, a surrogate womb to provide an heir for her elderly owners who were unable to have children of their own. It was a common practice in that culture in those days.

Hagar probably felt unimportant and overlooked; felt that no one valued or cherished her. When her pregnancy led to tension and mistreatment from her mistress, she ran away, fleeing into the desert. Perhaps she was trying to return to her own country of Egypt.

But while she's resting by a stream of water, God appears to her in angelic form. His words show that He knows all about her: knows her name, knows she's pregnant, knows how she's been treated... Hagar probably thought that no one knew and no one cared what was happening to her, but God reveals Himself not only as the God who sees her, but also as the God who looks on her with compassion. He gives her promises for her son and for her future. Hagar is strengthened to realise that she has seen El Roi - the God who sees me.

As David wrote in Psalm 139, the details of our lives are never hidden from God. He sees and knows everything we do. There may be times, if we're up to no good, when we don't want to be reminded that God sees us. Only too aware of this, David prays in verse 24 that God will search him to see if there is any wickedness in him, and to lead him in the right paths. Knowing that God sees every selfish or dishonest thing we do should prompt us to live our lives with kindness and integrity. 

But the flip side of this is that God also sees every good thing we do, every pure motivation, every right attitude. Jesus taught (Matthew 6: 4) that God even sees the things that happen in secret, and that He will reward the good and unselfish things we do, things that other people aren't aware of. 

For almost five decades, I've worked with a ministry that places a high value on motivating people of all generations to live in a way that, "brings joy to God's heart." It's not just about self-interest and doing things so that we'll be rewarded. It's about understanding the incredible truth that I, although I'm only one small human among eight billion others on the face of the earth, have the capacity to bring God joy or to make Him sad. He sees absolutely everything, and small things that no one else notices can bring great joy to His heart.

So, when life leads us into hard times, if we feel ignored, overlooked or forgotten by others, we can be comforted by the knowledge that God always sees us. He misses nothing.  He knows our situation and He looks on us with compassion. As I saw yesterday, He sees our need (rā'â - the verb from Yahweh Yireh) and we can trust Him to provide what we need.

Hagar's story in Genesis 16 doesn't only introduce us to El Roi, the God who sees. It also shows us two more names of God: the God who hears (Ishmael's name is based on God's name, El Shema) and El Hai/Chai - the God who is alive. The spring or well where Hagar met with God became known as Beer-lahai-roi, the well of the Living One who sees me. I'll meditate on those other two names of God over the coming days.