Jehovah Roi was one of the first Hebrew names for God that I encountered in my study of Genesis long ago. It seemed to resonate with me and assured me that God sees Me too! Jehovah Roi means The God Who Sees and appears in Genesis 16 during the story of Hagar in the wilderness. Hagar was the slave servant of Sarai, Abraham’s wife. When Sarai was not getting pregnant, she devised a plan of her own to have children. She gave her servant to Abraham, as it was an acceptable practice to ‘claim’ children as your own from your servants. When Hagar became pregnant, she developed an attitude with Sarai that upset her. Abraham told her to do what she wished with the servant so she treated her harshly. Hagar ran away into the desert.

This is the scene that unfolded in the desert. Genesis 16:7-13 “ The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 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.”

¹³ So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

Hagar knew this was divine intervention in her desperate situation. God was gracious and gave her hope that her son would be a strong man to be named Ishmael. They would not die in the wilderness. She was important to God as He looked upon her situation and gave her hope. She knew the Lord had seen her, The God who sees.

How about you? Do you have confidence that God sees you and your situation right now? Just as God saw Hagar, He knows and sees you too. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can live assured that God sees me and knows the answer to the dilemmas of my life. I, like Hagar, often don’t see a way through a situation but God does and He will lead you through it. Walk with Trust in Him.

Linda