Last week we came to know God as El Elyon, the Most High, sovereign ruler of the universe. We know that there is nothing that isn’t under God’s control and that He has supremacy over everything. And yet, if you are like me, it can be challenging to accept God as El Elyon when our own lives seem to be spiraling out of control and we must deal with pain, heartache and disappointment. But here is what is awesome about God — being the sovereign Most High God is only one facet of His character. We also can find comfort in difficult circumstances by calling upon El Roi, the God Who Sees.
We first meet God as El Roi in Genesis 16, which tells the story of Hagar, an Egyptian who served as Sarai’s (who eventually was renamed Sarah) maid. To understand the events in Genesis 16, we must remember that God had made a covenant with Abram (later Abraham) and promised him countless descendants and an heir from his own body (Gen. 15). Sarai, advancing in years, decides to bring the Lord’s promise to fruition herself, giving Hagar to Abram that she might obtain children through their union.
Hagar conceives a child with Abram, causing Sarai to despise her and mistreat her. Hagar ultimately flees and has an extraordinary encounter with an angel of the Lord. The angel instructs her: “‘Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.’ Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.’  The angel of the LORD said to her further, ’Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.  He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live to the east of all his brothers’” (Gen. 16:9-12).
Hagar responds by calling upon the name of the Lord who spoke to her: “Thou are a God who sees” (Gen. 16:13). Hagar subsequently returns to Abram and Sarai and gives birth to Ishmael.
Let’s look at this story for a few minutes. It was Sarai’s idea to give Hagar to Abram; as a foreign-born female slave whose duty it was to obey, Hagar didn’t have much choice in the matter. Hagar could have responded differently — rebelling against Sarai or feeling differently about conceiving a son — but she chose to flee and ultimately has an encounter with El Roi, the God Who Sees.
While we may never experience Hagar’s circumstances, there will always be times when we feel “put upon” by others, treated poorly or forced into situations where we do not feel like we have any power or choice. There are times we will feel unloved, unappreciated, and misunderstood. But knowing God as El Roi gives us the grace to obey Him as El Elyon. We may experience times when it feels like the whole world is against us, but we can be comforted in knowing that God sees our circumstances and is greater than them.
David knew God as El Roi, and he reflects this in Psalm 139:
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.  You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it. Â
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.  If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. (Psalm 139:1-12)
There is no place we can flee from the Spirit of God. We can have peace knowing that God is there and that He sees. He sees our struggles and He knows the sins that have been committed against us. Someday He will vidicate the wrongs perpetrated against us.Â
This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.  For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed–for our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10)
Even though El Elyon sometimes allows or permits bad things to happen to us, in God’s economy, it will be used for good by El Roi. We can put our trust in His promise that he will not forsake those who seek Him (Psalm 9:10).
How does knowing God as El Roi help us? Knowing that He sees all and will vindicate the wrongs committed against us enables us to forgive others and to let go of bitterness. Knowing El Roi should give us comfort and the ability to look beyond our immediate circumstances to appreciate God’s sovereign control.  El Roi liberates us to let go of hurt and disappointment — He is a constant friend. He sees — we can’t, but He can. Run into the strong tower of His name and rest!
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