She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seenthe One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)
“I feel seen” is a phrase we hear quite often today. People usually mean that they feel understood, validated, and accepted for who they are. As Christians, we know that we are seen by God. One of his names in Scripture is El Roi – the God who sees. But what does that really mean?
Some of us might have grown up with a sense that God is watching us, waiting to catch us out. At primary school in Japan, one of my sons and his friend were caught running in the corridor and told off. The second time, they were sent to the vice principal who told them that the gods of the school were watching and reported bad behaviour to him. I think the intention was to scare the students into obedience, although it didn’t work with that son!
To understand what it means to be seen by God, let’s look at Genesis 16, where God is given the name El Roi. The context is of a rather dysfunctional family. God has promised Abram and Sarai a son, but ten years have passed and nothing has happened. So Sarai decides to take matters into her own hands and gives her Egyptian slave, Hagar, to Abram as his wife. However, once she becomes pregnant, Hagar begins to despise Sarai who in turn mistreats Hagar so badly that she flees.
Alone, pregnant and homeless in a foreign land, Hagar stops by a spring in the desert – and there the Lord meets her. God sees her distress and calls her by name. Sarai had only referred to Hagar as “my slave” but God addresses her as “Hagar”, a person with a name, someone of worth. He asks her a question, listens to her and has compassion on her.
God is omniscient. He already knows what Hagar has done and what has been done to her and could have confronted her with that knowledge. Instead, he asks her questions, coming alongside gently and giving her space to speak and be heard. God shows Hagar that he sees her, and that she matters to him. But his love is not mere validation. Rather he challenges Hagar to return to Sarai because he has a plan for her and for her son. It can’t have been easy to go back, but knowing that she is seen gives Hagar the strength to obey.
This is the first recorded conversation between God and a woman who was an outsider, not part of God’s people. Up until this point, Hagar had surely felt unseen. She would have had no expectation that God would see her, a pregnant slave running away. Now she knows that God sees her and that, even though her life is messy, God has a plan for her and her family. Being seen by God is so significant to her that she gives him the name El Roi. She has now seen the One who sees her.
This is the only time in Scripture that the name El Roi appears, but it is not the only record we have of God seeing people who are suffering. When the Israelites were being mistreated as slaves in Egypt, God told Moses, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So, I have come down to rescue them…” (Exodus 3:7-8). God sees, and what he sees moves him to act.
We see this in Jesus too. Jesus saw people that society overlooked, avoided or despised. He saw Zacchaeus hiding in the tree (Luke 19:1-10). He saw the woman desperate for healing who wanted to touch his cloak unnoticed (Luke 8:43-48). He saw the ten men with leprosy standing at a distance (Luke 17:11-19). He saw the woman at the well, coming alone in the heat of the day (John 4:1-42). And Jesus didn’t just see each of these people, he met them with compassion at their point of need. He was present with them, spoke with them and showed that they mattered. And because he loved them, he also challenged them, giving them direction.
Perhaps some of you feel unseen at the moment. Perhaps you are going through a period of suffering, confusion or doubts. Be assured that the El Roi who saw Hagar all those years ago, sees you too. God sees each one of us. He meets us in our mess and gives us a voice. And he gently gives us direction or a challenge, because he has plans for us too, to bless us, restore us and give us hope. Like Hagar, may each one of us be able to say, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
By Lorna Ferguson