The angel of the Lord also said to [Hagar]: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, Ishmael means God hears. for the Lord has heard of your misery…She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”Genesis 16:11,13 NIV

After this verse, Hagar names the place that she is at (which is a well) and calls it Beer Lahai Roi, meaning, “well of the living One who sees me.”

One of God’s names is El Roi which means the God who sees.

I love this name because it can mean so many things, all of which are on a very different scale of significance.

It could mean that God sees you—as in, He is simply aware of your existence.

It could mean that God sees you—He sees your heart and who you really are.

It could mean that God sees you, knows you, and chooses to do something for you, to take action for you.

When we think of God seeing us, it may seem like He’s looking at His Life360 and mildly aware of everyone’s location but in reality, He’s looking at you as a child and He’s fully focused on where you are and where you are going.

God doesn’t want you to get lost and because of that—because He is the God who sees—He takes action to make sure that there are maps and doorways and tools for you to get back to where you need to be.

Psalm 139 fits Hagar and Ishmael’s story perfectly and I love what it has to say:

‘Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. 

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.’
Psalms 139:7-16 NIV

Your spirit cannot go anywhere on the earth that God is not in. If you are there, He is there, and He’s always ready to lead you on the path of redemption if you are willing to take His hand.

Thanks for reading, I hope you found it encouraging!
~Willow