El Roi

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This post is part of a month-long series reflecting on truths of Who God is through the alphabet and what those truths mean to us in the midst of our foster care journey. You can find the whole series here. 
“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 16:13
In Genesis 16 we find a young servant girl named Hagar, fleeing into the wilderness after being taken advantage of and thrown away. Her life must have seemed to be over. The people she trusted had used and abused her and then turned against her. She was utterly alone and hopeless. Until Jesus showed up.

Hagar names God El Roi- the God who sees. When she was most unseen He saw her. When she felt forgotten, He called her by name. When she felt hopeless He gave her direction and hope. When she thought her life was over He spoke of a future. This is El Roi. The Living One who sees.

Foster care can be a lonely road. It’s a grief that few people understand unless they have walked it themselves. People have said so many hurtful things to us after our babies have been moved- “Oh, you’ll get another one.” “Aren’t you willing to adopt them?” They aren’t trying to be hurtful- they’re attempting to be comforting or to understand. They just don’t.

One thing that has given me grace for people’s hurtful comments is that they truly cannot understand. I probably said hurtful things myself before I walked this road- it wasn’t intentional. I can let people off the hook for understanding - only God can truly understand and truly see.

It is El Roi who sees me in my grief. It is El Roi who sees the babies we love and knows where they are and cares for them when we no longer know. It is El Roi who sees the plan that we do not see. It is El Roi- and only Him- who can feel both the ache and joy of my heart. No one else can comprehend my individual wrestlings, not even my husband, not even friends who foster. Only God. I can let others off the hook for not understanding. They are not God- He is.
“Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.”Proverbs 14:10
We are not forgotten. We are not misunderstood. We are not unseen.

El Roi is the God who sees.

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