Week 2 of 52
El Roi- The God who sees me
Week 1 we looked at the name Jehovah Jireh, The Lord will provide. For those of you who follow my facebook page you may have already seen some instances how this was true in our life last week. The very next day, we received an unexpected check in the mailbox that was just enough to pay some bills. We are short on income this month because my husband works at a college and they are shut down, without pay, for the whole month. Then, Wednesday, Kevin went to the grocery store to pick up a few items and found a large roast(big enough to feed our large family 2 times with plenty of left overs) normally costing $25.00 on sale for $7.00!! Thank you Jehovah Jireh!!
This week I wanted to look at El Roi, The God who sees me. Although I have known this as truth from a very young age, it has become increasingly important to me through the years. When I was younger, this meant to me that God was watching me. Be it good or bad, he knew my EVERY thought and action. As I have grown it's meaning has brought great comfort and joy in times when I have felt alone or unimportant.
Sometimes we as parents may be guilty of using this as a threat(of sorts) toward our children. While this may not necessarily be a bad thing, I think we must be cautious when using a quality of God as a fear tactic against our children. I, myself, have often told my children this in numerous discussions about obedience...
"You should obey the rules and do what is right, even when you think no one is watching; because God is always watching. He sees everything you do and hears everything you say. He even knows what your thinking when you don't say it out loud."
While this is true, I think that we should first impart in them the awe of the attribute, the goodness that God intends it to be, before we use it to impart the fear of a great big God watching their every move. When they properly understand God for all the great things he is, their heart will long to do good in his sight, without us having to scare them into it.
Impart in them the truth of Scripture; that God has known them from the beginning of time, he knows every good thing he wants for them, every decision they will make, and how it will affect their future. One of my favorite Bible passages, as an example of El Roi, The God who sees me is
Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
This passage is one reason that I am doing this study. I have often concentrated on the first verse as a source of encouragement, but just a few months ago the last verse really caught my attention. I thought "Wow, what does it mean to be seeking god with my whole heart? Am I doing that?"
How wonderful the promise that we will find him if we search for him with our whole heart!!
Another of my favorite passages to reiterate El Roi is Psalm 139. The Psalms are so packed full of promises about who God is... Our shield, strength, salvation, rock, fortress, refuge, deliverer, I could go on and on, but we would be here for a while!!
The subheading in my bible for this passage says "God's perfect knowledge of Man"
Psalm 139
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall[a] on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;[b]
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.[c]
21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Wow! How wonderful is it to know that we have a God who cares so much about us, me and you, personally that he cares to know the very innermost thoughts we have. He knew me even before I was conceived. He hand picked my parents, my husband, and my children all for me before I was even made. How precious are his thoughts towards me.
In all that he has created, his still cares enough to know me, by name.
I cannot even begin to fathom this. I have a hard time calling my children by their name some days and I only have a handful.
He knows you better than anyone else. He is here to comfort you when no one else will be.
He is ever faithful to you and committed to knowing EVERYTHING about you.
When you are afraid, he is your comfort.
When you are tired, he will give you rest.
When you feel alone, he's right beside you
When you cry, he cries.
When you rejoice, he rejoices with you.
When you are in pain, he feels it too.
It really is the ultimate relationship that anyone can ask for. He is the only one capable of loving me unconditionally. No matter what I do, or think, he will love me. No matter how I hurt him or turn from him, he will love me. No matter how much I disobey, or how long I run from what he has called me to do, he will love me.
He is El Roi, The God who sees me. At my worst, at my best. He sees my every need, my every want, and hears my every prayer.
No one know me more than he does and I want to know his just as intimately as he knows me.
This week, no matter what you face, strive to seek God as El Roi. Know that he sees all and he cares for you. Thank him for loving you enough to care about EVERYTHING that goes on in your life. Turn to him, instead of worry and fear, when things aren't going exactly as you might want and ask him what he is trying to do for you.
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