El Roi

 If you grew up in church you probably know the story of Abram and Sarai. They were both old, but God promised them a kid, Sarai thought she'd help God out with that promise by having her servant go have sex with her husband.  Lucky day, the servant Hagar gets pregnant. A good thing right? Not so much, Sarai has some profound regret and took it out on the servant.  The servant is like "to heck with this" and runs for it. 

Somewhere in the desert an angel speaks to Hagar and says she's pregnant with a son and he should be named "Ishmael which means "God hears" because the Lord has heard your distress".  Then he says that her son 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 all his brothers".  So Hagar is already frustrated with this situation and then she finds out that on top of this whacked pregnancy, the kid is going to be a complete jerk.

Can you imagine getting a little baby shower card with this quoted verse?

Through this interaction with the angel, Hagar knows that even though she has a rough road ahead she is not alone. God saw her troubles and sent an angel to encourage her. After this, she decides to call God by a different name.  We don't know what she called him before, but after this encounter, she calls him El Roi - God who sees.  Because he saw her. 

He saw her troubles, her heart, and her future.  

There are many names of God and I honestly never paid attention to this particular name until today.  No matter what I may be running from or running to, in loneliness, fear, despair, pain, or sorrow El Roi sees ME.  He sees the little things and the big things and loves me enough to help me through it all.

Hagar got a really bad hand in this game of life, I don't think anyone can dispute that.  So if your boss is being awful and punishes you for doing what she asked of you, your son is acting like a donkey, or if your baby daddy sends you out to the desert with a Hydroflask of water and a PBJ...just know, you are seen.

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