El Roi

The God who sees.

It’s so often used as a threat and a stick with which to wield condemnation, casting aspersions to make us recoil with discomfort, imagining a God waiting with relish to observe what sin we may indulge in today, taking note of our faults then calling us to account. It exudes negativity and the need for punishment.

If the seeds of bitterness hadn’t already taken ahold then the looming threat of ‘God can see you’ would certainly fertilise and assist their growth! A sense of self repulsion / never being good enough would add to possible doubt and anger ... how on earth can I live in a spiritually acceptable way?

That’s not my God! It’s certainly not the characteristic of a truly loving father.

Of course I’m not refuting the fact that God is all knowing and all seeing in that He does indeed see and know our sin. However he takes no delight in that, it grieves him. His desire is to forgive it and to wipe it away with no recourse or dredging it back up again.

My God is full of tender compassion and loving kindness, willing to save anyone who looks to him and cries out for help. He sees, yes he sees … he sees the broken heart; he sees the loneliness; he sees the suffering, the grief and pain; his heart breaks too … he sees those innermost struggles and anxieties; he sees the doubt, the shame, the fear … he sees the weakness; he sees the vulnerability; he sees the cruelty and he sees the caving in to temptation. He sees to the deepest depth of your heart and soul … and he loves. He loves so much. When hurt in the worst way possible, when you have no ounce of self respect left, when you even doubt his presence … yes even then he adores you. To him you are most precious and of great value and worth. 

He sees you right now exactly where you are and he cares. He cares about those momentary stresses and the tiredness which the cares of the day have led to. He sees and understand the nervousness about the next step in your life and your struggle with patience. He understands the complexities of mental health and addiction. He knows and he sees it all.

Hagar was used and then discarded. A single mother alone with a child, abandoned, frightened and facing a slow death, but God saw her (Genesis 21). He protected and provided when no one else was around.

Jesus sought out individuals and noticed those who were invisible or insignificant to others, even those who were hated by the majority (like Zacchaeus). Each one precious to him (the man at the pool of Bethesda), each one seen and known (the woman with the bleeding disorder). It didn’t mean there weren’t problems in life but it did (and does) mean that he is with us in them … now that’s a pretty wonderful and reliable hand to hold.

We are fully known and unconditionally loved! ❤️

Nothing you have done is irredeemable.

I stumbled across the most relevant song, beautifully written and sung by Kathie Lee Gifford and Nicole C Mullen, please take a listen … 'The God Who Sees':

https://youtu.be/l6sX4Vw8mx0

I am so glad that God sees me. No matter that there are millions of other people on the planet … he sees me … and he sees you. It’s like the warmest embrace and most reassuring security you could ever imagine or wish for.

Ingrid x