El Roi: The God Who Sees
As Hagar is out in the wilderness by a spring of water it says in Genesis 16:7 that the angel of the Lord came to her and asked her what she was doing out there. Hagar mentioned that she was fleeing from Sarai. The angel of the Lord told her to return to Sarai and that God was going to bless Hagar with a multitude of her people. She was to name her son Ishmael or “God hears”. Hagar responded to what the angel of the Lord said by saying “Thou art a God who sees.” We were listening to the pastor explain this verse today in church. He talked about how Sarai could have had Hagar killed for running away from her since she was her servant. He also mentioned how many of us are like Sarai and instead of waiting on God and his timing we try to help God by doing our own thing and devising our own plan. It wasn’t a part of God’s original plan to involve Hagar at all. I take some comfort In these verses because due to my own impatience, I can often act the way that Sarai did