At the core of every human being is the need to be seen, to be fully known, valued and loved. We seek to have this need fulfilled by human standards. This can often lead to a vicious and unhealthy cycle and poor choices. We look for it in marriage, friendships, dating relationships, the pursuit of success, etc. The truth is that only God can truly fill this need (I absolutely believe that He can use marriage and relationships to show Himself to us but only He can truly meet the need and fill the void.)
There’s someone else who had the same core need to be seen and known- Hagar. A brief background on Hagar: she was the Hebrew slave girl that Sarah gave to Abraham in Sarah’s attempt to bear Abraham a child. (Genesis 16 ). Hagar became pregnant and despised Sarah. Sarah blamed Abraham and Abraham told Sarah to handle the situation. Sarah mistreated Hagar and Hagar fled. Hagar soon found herself wandering in the desert- alone, tired and pregnant. The only thing she found was a spring of water . The Lord sent an angel to find Hagar and the angel spoke to Hagar about the child she was carrying. God found Hagar in the desert- He saw truly saw her: her heart, her need, who she was. Genesis 16:13 -14(NIV) says “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.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi..” Beer Lahai Roi means “well of the Living One who sees me.” From this we get the Hebrew name for God- El Roi: the God who sees.
Life is hard, even when things may be going good. Maybe I should rephrase that and say living life is hard. Living the life that God has called us to live daily. I often find myself asking God , “Do you really see me? Do you really know me?” Deep down, I know that He does but sometimes it doesn’t feel that way. Recently, God reminded me that He really does see me. It came through people who probably didn’t even realize the impact and significance of a small gesture. One was a text message from a friend that just said that she was thinking about me and missed me. Another was a Facebook message from another friend sharing with me something that God had laid on her heart to tell me- it could not have come at a better time and the words were exactly what I needed to hear. Then I got a text message from a friend wanting to meet for coffee. These were simple yet tangible reminders to me that God does see me- He knows me, knows my heart and knows the things that I don’t even know about myself- after all, He created me. The artist always knows their creation.
I don’t know where you are today. You could be like Hagar and are on your own journey through the wilderness- a journey that may include loneliness, suffering and pain. You could be like me- living everyday life but needing a little reminder of God’s love for you. No matter where you are or what you are facing, trust that God is “El Roi” and that He sees you.