Hagar Calls God "El Roi"
First, a bit of back-story about the circumstances surrounding this passage: Many years prior, God had promised Abram (later to be called Abraham) a son, but after many years of waiting, Sarai (Abram's wife, later to be called Sarah) had not become pregnant. Sarai and Abram (who were getting old) decided to take matters into their own hands. Sarai told Abram to sleep with her servant, Hagar (an Egyptian), so that God's promise of a son would come about. Abram did so, and Hagar became pregnant. Naturally, some tension arose between Sarai and Hagar. We are told that Hagar despised Sarai; Sarai, angry, mistreated Hagar. So Hagar ran away.
This brings us to Genesis 16. A runaway Egyptian servant girl, pregnant because her master slept with her at his own wife's suggestion, is alone in the wilderness. God would not be pleased with such behavior as was exhibited in this situation, so we might expect Him to turn a blind eye to this girl. But He doesn't. We are told in Genesis 16 that the angel of the Lord came to Hagar and ministered to her. He told her to return and to submit to Sarai, but he comforted her with the promise that the descendants through her child (Ishmael) would be too many to count. [Just as Jews descended from Abraham's son Isaac, who was born later as a result of a miraculous pregnancy in Sarah, Arabs in the Middle East today descend from Ishmael.] When Hagar, this Egyptian woman, experiences God in this deeply personal way, she calls Him El Roi, the God Who Sees. This name of God points to the way that He saw her situation, comforted her, and took care of her.
He Is Still This God!
Nadia
Nadia eventually married, but her marriage was difficult, as her husband was an alcoholic. We believe she had a daughter, but if she did (we couldn't tell if she was talking about a niece or a daughter), her daughter has already died. Much of the rest of her story is a bit fuzzy, except for the fact that she became a believer in Jesus at some point later in her life. One day, she was having a hard time, and she decided she needed to go to church. She visited a Greek Catholic church and lit a candle in this church. She says she felt a voice in her spirit saying that this act would not bring her peace, and that she would not find the answers there. So she spoke with some people from a religious group - either Jehovah's Witnesses or the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When talking to them, she also felt in her spirit that they did not have the answers she needed. She ended up visiting a Protestant Church, and she felt in her spirit that this was the place that she needed to be. She loves to read God's word, sing hymns, and pray with us when we visit her. Nadia tells us that she is ready to die and to go home to be with God, but that God obviously doesn't want that just yet. She is too frail to go to church, although she expresses a desire to do so. Even now, she tells us that with no family, and virtually no friends, she has no one but God (and her two cats) for companionship. Yet she expresses such gratitude for who He is and all He has done for her.
One old woman, having suffered great hardship in life, was alone and yearned for companionship. The God Who Sees saw her situation and chose to connect us with her, so that we could have fellowship with her, show love to her, and so that we could all mutually encourage one another in our lives and in our walk with God. Watching her complete reliance on the Lord over the past six months has been an encouragement and a challenge to us and the other young adults who visit her. Seeing her life, we are reminded of the 73rd Psalm.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever....
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
- Psalm 73:25-26, 28
Olena
Valya started a conversation with this woman, whose name was Olena, and asked her if she needed any food. Olena was a bit confused, so Valya explained that we had a bag of food for her, from our church, that it was free, and that it was for people truly in need. She explained that if this woman was in need we would like to give her a bag of groceries. Olena said yes, she was in need, and as we handed the bag to her, she burst into tears. She wanted to know what she needed to give us in return, and Valya reassured her that she had to give nothing; it was a gift from God for her. After collecting herself, Olena and Valya went on to have a long conversation in Russian. (No one was able to translate at the moment, and Valya doesn't speak much English, so she couldn't translate.) The woman cried a couple different times during the conversation and was clearly overjoyed at the gift of a single bag of food. We prayed for her, Valya invited her to church, and we both hugged her before leaving. When we returned to the group, Valya told one of the English-speaking Ukrainians what happened, and they translated for us. Apparently, Olena didn't have food (or money to buy some). She had been praying to God to give her food. Shortly before we arrived, someone came up to her and offered her a sandwich. While she was still eating this immediate provision of food, we came up and offered her basic staples that she could prepare at home for the next few days. She had broken into tears because she was overwhelmed at God's kindness to her in answering her prayers for food.
On one Saturday, a poor woman sat in a doorway, asking God to meet her need for food. Although she didn't know where her next meal would come from, the God Who Sees saw her need, and He knew. He sent a stranger to offer her a sandwich. Thinking her prayer was answered, she turned her back to the street to eat this provision of food. And as she enjoyed the nourishment God had provided, the God Who Sees led us to her and allowed us to meet her need for food for several days.