EL ROI- THE GOD WHO SEES

      When I was a young man, I traveled for a living. Sometimes for weeks on end, and it was not a good thing- not for a man who drank the way I did.  Over the course of time, I lost interest in being with people and began to drink alone. Straight whiskey usually... and before I went bed, I would add water to my mostly empty bottle... so that it would look like I hadn't drunk as much come morning. It was a pathetic thing to see... and there were times when I would cry out, "O God, if you are there, please, please see me and save me. Hosannah." Earlier in life, when I was a kid, I would lay in my bed... and cover my ears with pillows when I began to hear my parents' voices raise, I would cover my ears... and pray that things would not get to be as bad as they sometimes did. Sometimes my little brother, Randy, would join me... but still, I felt alone... and wished that someone could see all that was going on... and do something about it. As Wille Nelson sang, "I've got a long list of real good reasons for all the things I've done," but my reasons were never convincing, and I could never feel entirely good about the face I saw in the mirror. What I needed was somebody who would see me- the real me- even the worst of me- and love me any way!
      I think we all do from time to time... because we get lost... in all the ways that people get lost. We get hurt... in all the ways that people get hurt. We take the wrong turns, hang out with the wrong crowd, get confused by the thoughts that clutter our minds. We fall in love with some idol, we chase one shining object after another. We get rejected. People whom we've trusted... betray us. With a pink slip in our pocket, we clean out our desk... and no one says a word as we leave the building. We get a devastating prognosis from our oncologist and we find ourselves alone in the elevator. We suffer injustice. We stumble, fall, grumble, curse, laugh, praise, lie, sob, win, lose, fight, run... and we wonder if anyone sees or cares.
      What we need is a God who sees us when we're in misery and hiding. What we need is a God who sees us when we're lost in the wilderness. What we need is a God who sees into our hearts. And into our deepest darkness. What we need is a God who sees that we're about to give up, or lose control. What we need is a God who sees our deepest hunger and our deepest thirst... and that is the kind of God that we have! Praise God- this is exactly the God who we have! Some people believe that God is "at a distance," disinterested and uninvolved... but this is NOT the God of the Bible. Not at all... because the God of the Bible is aware of our journeys. He see us. He talks with us, and He walks with us... which brings me to EL-ROI- the God who sees. God sees us when we run from him, like Jonah did; God sees us when we're hiding in fear, like Gideon was; God sees us when were blinded and chained and ridiculed, like Samson was; God see us when we are walking along the road of disappointment with Cleopas- the road to Emmaus; and God sees us, when like Hagar, we're walking in some desert without any hope at all. 
      Indeed, it was the Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, who first recognized God as El-Roi. You know the story. After they had reached old age, Abram and Sarai came to believe that they would not have a baby together. So, they decided to help God keep his promise by giving Sarai's servant, Hagar, to Abram, as his wife. The plan seemed to work because Hagar became pregnant, but Sarai became jealous and angry when she saw her plan unfold. She blamed Abram for embarrassing her, and in return, Abram gave her permission to abuse and mistreat Hagar, which she did. In fact, Hagar was abused to the point where she couldn't stand it anymore... and even though she was pregnant, she ran into the desert. She didn't have a friend in the world and there wasn't a safe haven to be found... BUT the Lord saw her- the Bible says it clearly- He saw her at the spring on the road to Shur (Gen. 16:7)... and he assured her that she would be blessed if she returned to Sarai. 
      It was almost a miracle- to be seen and saved in the middle of the desert- and in a time when names defined a person's character and essence,  Hagar cried, "You are El-Roi." El Roi saw Hagar on the road to Shur... and He saw me when I watered down my whiskey. But what is more: He sees you! El Roi sees you and you will never be alone, no matter how dark or bleak things may be... because our great God- the great I AM- is also El Roi! In this we can trust and believe. Amen.