El Roi
Genesis 16
This passage tells a story that shook me to my core. It spoke to me at the perfect time. The significance of this is that I have been consistently ministering and teaching from the topic “RIGHT PEOPLE. RIGHT PLACES. RIGHT TIMING.” At what felt like one of my lowest moments I heard the Lord speak to my spirit. I heard “El Roi.”
I immediately began to do research and from the beginning I was blown away. The Lord wanted me to know HE SEES ME. I was so thankful and grateful.
As I read Genesis 16, I began to receive revelation from the scriptures. So, I want to dive into them with you. Let’s go!
First off, let me say Sarai was a mess! She wanted to give her husband a son (understandable), but she was not willing to wait on God. She decided to take matters into her own hands, as we often do, and created a total debacle.
Sarai, leaning to her own understanding, decided to give her Egyptian slave (Hagar) to her husband Abram as a wife. Hagar conceived and immediately started despising Sarai. She started treating Sarai badly and that didn’t go well at all.
Eventually, Sarai went to Abram to address the issue. However, she went to him in the wrong spirit. She accused him of being the reason Hagar was behaving in such a way. In a sense she was nagging, complaining, and throwing out accusations against him.
Abram was over it and told Sarai that Hagar was her slave and she should handle her however she saw fit. That pleased Sarai because she started treating Hagar horribly. One translation of the Bible says that Sarai beat Hagar. If so, she was wrong for whooping that pregnant lady 😩.
Although Hagar had been dishing it out to Sarai when Sarai retaliated, she could not take it. Let’s be clear, Hagar did start trouble with Sarai.
Hagar, pregnant and fed up with being mistreated and abused by Sarai, decided to run away. She left and retreated to the wilderness (some translations say desert).
As she rested near a spring of water she was visited by an angel of the Lord. Here is how the conversation went between the two of them:
8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
Hagar, then became the first one in biblical history to give God a name. She called Him, El Roi, the God who sees me.
So now as for the revelation I mentioned earlier here it is...
Although we put ourselves in some situations by doing things that are totally out of alignment with the Word of God and His commandments, there is still grace for us. We do things that does not please God and He is still faithful to us because of His unfailing love and His mercy.
There are times we do things and we don't think about the consequences or even how it will affect our lives in the days, months, and/or years to come. We have to understand that there will always be rewards for good deeds and consequences for bad deeds. There is no way around it. In Hagar's case she started something that she didn't have the compacity to finish that carried out even to the next generation. Ishmael ended up treating Isaac wrong which eventually got them sent away.
However, God's compassion towards us is so great that even when we mess up, He is still willing to forgive us and bless us. He looks beyond our faults and SEE our needs.
Hagar fled to the wilderness and our good Father met her there. In the midst of her circumstances, He came to see about her. He didn't leave her there in her despair.
Although she had done wrong, not once did the Lord bring up what she had done. He only gave her instructions to go back and submit to Sarai. He only wanted her to make it right. He went on to bless her! Yes, the Lord will still bless us even when we are a mess. He doesn't abandon us or leave us stranded because when we are in trouble.
The message is this...
The Lord sees everything that you are facing. He sees the tears, the betrayal, the burdens, the heartache, the anxiety, the stress, the abuse, the mistreatment, the strife, and everything else. Just know that the God who SEES will never forsake you. He won't leave you there! Call upon His name, EL ROI, and He will pick you up from that place. He will restore you. He will deliver you!
HE SEES!
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