Do you long to be seen?
We live in a busy world. Everyone is always going to and fro. Daily to-do lists and tasks are unending.
There is rarely time left in anyone’s day for a bit of silence and a cup of coffee.
Instead, we’re thankful for the drive-thru coffee shops that hand us a cup on the run.
Throughout our days, we see people. People see us.
All while we’re running from one place and task to the next.
After all, there is so, so much to be done.
In all the people-seeing we do, though, are we actually seeing others? Are they actually seeing us?
Let’s go back to the coffee shop. Did you even notice the person who handed your ” morning cup of Joe” to you?
It’s likely you said ‘thank you’ before you drove away, unless you were having a rough morning, that is, but did you really see them?
Every one of us longs to be seen. In being seen, we come to life. We matter.
When was the last time you felt seen? Who saw you? What did they say or do that touched you?
Perhaps it was your spouse who hugged you and thanked you for doing the dishes time and time again.
Maybe your boss went out of their way to share accolades for the project you completed in record time.
Possibly a friend sent you a text this morning saying that they were praying for you today.
When was the last time you truly saw someone? Who was it? Did you say or do anything to make them feel seen? To show them that they matter?
We all long to be seen. And we all are.
God sees each and every one of us. Right where we are. Every single day. Each moment of every single day. Even when we don’t feel or notice we’re being seen.
There have been noted that there are over 20 names of God in the Bible. One of them happens to mean ‘The God Who Sees Me’.
El Roi. The God Who Sees Me.
Unlike other names of God, there is only one place in Scripture where He is referred to as ‘El Roi’. It comes from a story you wouldn’t necessarily expect this name of God to be found, but it says so much about God seeing those who feel unseen.
The first book of the Bible, Genesis, is where we find the story of Hagar. A misused woman. Tossed aside. Unwanted. Unloved. Unseen…or so she thought.
Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.
But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me (El Roi): for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
Genesis 16:1-13
In the wilderness, Hagar was seen. By the God who sees.
The God who saw Hagar that day is the same God who sees you today.
No matter where you are, what you’re facing, your failures of the past or successes of today, God sees you. Period.
While the next story doesn’t refer to God by the name El Roi, it presents another picture of someone being seen by the Lord when they didn’t realize He was there.
In the early days of Jesus’ ministry on earth, we read about His encounter with Nathanael, a man who didn’t believe anything good could come out of Nazareth.
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
John 1:45-50
Nowhere in this passage do we read about where or when Jesus saw Nathanael under a fig tree. Yet, due to Nathanael’s response to Jesus telling him that he was seen under the fig tree, we know without a doubt that this account is true.
At some point in time, Nathanael was under a fig tree and Jesus saw him.
It would seem to me that Nathanael was not in plain sight when he was under the fig tree; otherwise, Jesus seeing him wouldn’t seem like such a big deal, I would think.
In the moments when we are alone, battling feelings of being unseen, that we don’t matter, it is in those moments that El Roi meets us.
Just as He did with Hagar and Nathanael. We are seen. By the God Who Sees Me. El Roi sees you. El Roi sees me.
We are seen. We matter.
As we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, it is our responsibility as Christ-followers to ensure those we encounter each day know that they are seen.
Being Jesus to a world lost without Him doesn’t always require us to move mountains. Sometimes it is done one person at a time.
Consider the retellings of Jesus’ time on earth; not all of them were about crowds of people sitting around listening to Him and all being fed miraculously.
Remember the woman at the well? What about the man by the pool of Siloam? The woman with the issue of blood? Lazarus?
The majority of Jesus’ miraculous work on earth was done individually.
Jesus loves and touches personally. One on one.
May we become more and more like Jesus every day. Seeing, touching and loving those God places in our path each day.
The God who sees me is the God who sees you.
El Roi.
