El Roi - The God Who Sees


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After waiting many years for God to fulfill His promise of descendants for Abram, we read in Genesis 16 that Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands and gave her handmaiden to Abram as a wife. As soon as Hagar conceived, the Bible says she despised Sarai. In return, Sarai treated Hagar harshly. Hagar fled into the wilderness. The angel of the Lord met her there and told her to return to Sarai. He promised to multiply her descendants through the son she would bear. Hagar was to call him Ishmael. In response, Hagar called the name of the Lord, "a God who sees."

God saw what happened to Hagar. He knew all about her distress and saw her run away. He sent an angel to let her know she was cared for by God. Like Hagar, "God loves us. He sees everything that happens to us. We cannot run away and hide from Him. God also sent Hagar back home to deal with the painful situation with Sarai. God does not want us to run away from our problems. He wants us to know that He sees what happens to us, and He will use those bad things for good.

Psalm 139:7-12 shows us that we cannot flee from God's presence; He is with us wherever we are.
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Proverbs 5:21 shows us that our ways are before the Lord; He watches over all our paths.


In Psalm 9:10 reminds us that if we know God's name and put our trust in Him, He will not forsake us.
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When we feel hurt or think we have made too great a mistake to be forgiven, we aren't to try to get even or run away. Instead, we can run to "God, (our) El Roi. He sees. He cares. He will heal your hurt. He will not forsake, abandon, or turn His back on you! He uses even the hard, difficult, and bad things for good!"

-Discover 4 Yourself Inductive Bible Studies for Kids!; God, What's Your Name?; Kay Arthur and Janna Arndt; pp. 54-57

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