“God is watching you.” I’ve overheard that phrase greater than a couple of times. It’s a press release that is supposed to foster obedience. When little Johnny punches his sister behind the pinnacle and blames it on a bird, mom and pa might remind him that God knows. Even though mom and pa weren’t there, God was. God sees all the pieces and knows all the pieces. You can’t hide from God.
This is usually a helpful reminder. There is nothing that we truly do in secret. God even knows the key thoughts of our hearts. And there isn’t any place that we are able to run from His presence. This is why Herman Bavinck says what he does:
Wherever, subsequently, you shall have fled, there he’s. From yourself, whither will you flee? Will you not follow yourself wherever you shall flee? But since there may be One more inward even than yourself, there isn’t any place where chances are you’ll flee from God offended but to God reconciled. There isn’t any place in any respect whither chances are you’ll flee. Will you flee from him?
Flee unto him[1].”
But the story of Hagar adds one other layer of intending to this idea. It is less about God’s omniscience or omnipresence and more in regards to the depth of His loving. The name El Roi speaks to those that are unseen and insignificant. It speaks to those that are forged out and haven’t any other place to show. God sees. God knows. It provides us with a depth of comfort and hope that we cannot find elsewhere. The Almighty sees. He puts our tears in a bottle. El Roi reminds us that God sees us—every tear, every prayer, every moment of despair.
For those battling loneliness, rejection, or hardship, El Roi is a strong reminder that they’re never truly alone. God’s gaze is upon them, and His presence is with them.
This reality speaks to me as a pastor as well. It jogs my memory that my value and identity aren’t present in the opinion of others but within the unchanging truth of God. He sees. He knows. He values me as an individual and never as a performer. But it also helps me to see others with a latest set of eyes. God at all times goes before me. In every pastoral visit, every prayer beside a hospital bed, every meeting, and each uncomfortable and unknown situation during which I find myself, God sees.
That YHWH is El Roi also speaks to a calling upon our own lives. It is true that we will not be all-knowing. And we can’t be all over the place directly. The “omni” attributes of God will not be true of us. In this regard, we can’t be a one who “sees” not in the identical way that God can and does. Yet, there may be one other way during which we absolutely can and must reflect this attribute of God.
Jesus definitely lived as El Roi. When he saw the sheep with no shepherd, he saw them. He saw their plight, and He moved towards them in healing. It is that this same heart which should beat inside the heart of each believer. We are to be like God. Which means we’re to be those that see the plight of the hurting.
I can’t help but consider that story in Luke 7, where a sinful woman anoints Jesus’ feet together with her tears and wipes them together with her hair. It’s quite the scene. It would have drawn the eye of everyone in attendance. And yet Jesus, quite humorously, asked, “Simon, do you see this woman?” Of course, he saw the girl. But did he see the girl? I feel Jesus was asking Simon whether or not he was reflecting El Roi. Perhaps that very same query might be asked of us today.
God sees. Do we?
[1] Bavinck, Herman, and William Hendriksen. The Doctrine of God. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1977, p164
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Matese Fields
