The God Who Sees / The God Who Sees Me

Greetings, Precious Family. May the Peace of the Lord be with you always

Family, the Devotional this evening is very special for multiple reasons. The first reason is because God was only called by this name one time in the Bible in Genesis 16:13 by Hagar. Let’s go there now…

Genesis 16:13
New International Version

13 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[a] the One who sees me.”

Bereshis 16:13
Orthodox Jewish Bible

13 And she called the Shem of Hashem Who spoke unto her, El Roi (G-d Who Sees); for she said, Have I also here seen after Him that seeth me?

In case you are not familar with this story, I strongly encourage you to read ALL of Chapter 16. Here is the shortened 2026 version. Clearing my throat….

Sarai (Sarah) and Abram (Abraham) were husband and wife. Sarai was not able to get pregnant, no matter how many times her and Abram tried. In order for her to give Abram the chance to have children, Sarai had the idea to have her maiden servant Hagar sleep with Abram (remember this is Sarai’s idea – NOT GOD’s).

Hagar immediately got pregnant and Sarai began to get mad and treat Hagar very poorly, even though this was ALL HER IDEA!!!

Hagar is treated so poorly by Sarai  that she runs away into the desert to get away from all the drama. So imagine how bad it had to be if you were pregnant but you chose the desert as your home just to have some peace. (That will Preach)

Okay, now I believe you should have a good picture of what is taking place. Now let’s read why El Roi is important:

Genesis 16:7-15
New International Version

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:

“You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,[a]
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
    toward[b] all his brothers.”

13 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[c] the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi[d]; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.

I know for many of us women, if we heard God say to go back to a place where we just ran away from, we would probably be rebuking the devil and not listen. But Hagar did listen and history would be impacted greatly and it still is today.

The second reason why this passage is so important is because even when you think no one cares and no one sees your pain, God sees it all and He cares.

How special Hagar must have felt. One moment she she was suffering terribly at the hands of Sarai and the next moment she is being tended to by an angle of the Lord.

Im going to stop here this evening because I have a lot more to say….

Stay tuned until tomorrow for Part 2.

I want to leave you with this. God sees everything thst you are going through. Your obedience is not in vain. Your living is not in vain. You MATTER!!!!

Worship Video of the Day

Rev. Marcia Davis, BA, MA

Covingtonz GA (USA)