Genesis 16:1-16
1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.
6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

Hagar had a lot working against her. She was a slave. She was a woman. She was a foreigner. She was pregnant. She was vulnerable. And eventually she was cast out and on the run. Eventually she was alone, left to fend for herself in the wilderness. But she was never alone. Unknown to her, the God who sees all and knows all had His eye upon her. He knew she was Sarai’s maid. He knew how she ended up in this place, but He talked with her there in her brokenness and lostness and offered her hope.

When God asks Hagar two questions, she only answers one of them. She knows where she has been, but perhaps she doesn’t know where she will go. But God knows His plan for her beyond what she can see for herself. He asks her to do this hard thing—return to Sarai, her mistress who sent her away, who was despised in her eyes, who would hold bitterness against her for carrying her husband’s child. With this command, God gives her a promise that is actually similar to the one He gave to Abraham, for He knows the future of the son that she carries now in her womb. His name will be Ishmael, meaning “God will hear.” He will be a wild man, involved in conflict, dwelling among his brethren, and he will form a nation of his own.

Because of this encounter, Hagar realizes first that there is a God and, more amazingly, that this God sees her and knows of her. She had not sought Him, but still He sought for her. She finds in Him a God who knows her and loves her and cares about the situation in which she has found herself. He is a God who will help her and guide her because He even sees her beyond the moment where she is just now. This is the God she calls Thou God Seest Me, El Roi.

What can I know about this God who sees me? He sees me at my worst. At my most lost. At my loneliest. When no one else can see me. He sees where I’ve been, where I am now, and where I am going next. He has a plan and a vision for my future that I cannot even see for myself. Beyond these big details of my life that He sees in fullness and completion, He sees all of me, every hidden part. And He sees those things within me with interest and concern. I am fully seen and known and never outside the awareness of God. Though He has the entire universe to look upon, still He chooses to look at me. To consider me. To care about me and my place in His world and the struggle that I’m in at this moment.

What does it mean to me that I am seen and known? Perhaps David says it best in Psalm 139, a psalm to which I often turn to try to understand the depth of God’s vision of me.

Psalm 139:1-24
1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

David describes God’s seeing of him this way. It is a very intimate, personal knowledge that God’s seeing creates. He knows everything about us and about our lives, down to what is usually most hidden and secret. We are constantly and continually in His vision, and there is nowhere to go to be outside of His vision. Nothing hides us from His sight. He knows how we were formed (because He formed us) and He knows what our lives here will fashion us into (where we will go, what we will do, who we will become). Lastly, David invites a careful search so that he can know what God sees in him and deal with anything wicked within himself so that he can do what is pleasing in God’s eyes.

When we know that we are always in God’s sight, not only do we know we are not alone, not ever alone. Not only do we know that He cares about us and our lives and the challenges and hardships we experience. Not only do we have a sense of safety from that. But an awareness of God’s constant presence and attention should cause us to then live a certain way under His watchful gaze, to live so that He will be pleased and glad with what He sees in us. That we return His careful attention and thus pay careful attention to how we are seeing Him, how we view Him and His Word and His will and His plan for us. How we choose to live when we know so surely that He sees all that we are doing every moment.

Mark 10:17-22
17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

The rich young ruler comes to Jesus with a question and a desire. He wants eternal life. He seeks an answer from Jesus of how to go about it. But he is lost in his own little world of riches and power. He has a lot of stuff and wants just one thing more. He may have come with good intentions, but he was so, so lost. And Jesus sees him there in his sinful, lost state and loves him even in that condition, maybe especially so. Even when this young man rejects Him and turns away, Jesus still looks upon him with love. It is always with love that Jesus looks at us. It is why He came to save us in the first place.

John 4:5-29
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

This Samaritan woman who encountered Jesus at a well was fully seen and fully known. And she found in His gaze not judgment or condemnation. She felt not shame or criticism. She found the freedom to be loved in spite of her past and the things she had done. She found that being known, being a sinner, being a person with a past full of failure and regret could coincide with being loved by a gracious and merciful Savior. She found that by exposing all those things she may have rather kept secret, she could step into the light of Jesus’ truth about what He saw in her, what He could give to her, and what she could then become after knowing such things as these.

When Jesus sees us where we are, in that needful, longing state, He comes to give us a vision, a glimpse of the Father and the salvation that He can offer to us. He comes to turn our eyes not inward toward our shame and not outwardly on those who judge us, but up to Him. To look toward Him and to Him for an opportunity at a brand-new life full of His goodness. To know so surely a Father who sees and knows and yet loves everlastingly. To have that relationship with Him where we not only receive this great gift, but then return something to Him in worship and truth. It’s an amazing transformation that can come from being fully seen, fully known and yet also fully loved by a holy and righteous God.

John 11:30-36
30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!

For Mary and Martha, the death of their brother was a tragedy. Perhaps Jesus had seemed so distant and far away, so uninvolved in what they were dealing with. He hadn’t come when they asked. He could have prevented what they were facing in this moment. Their sorrow overtook them. The sadness of the moment prevailed. But Jesus was never absent from this situation, and He entered it alongside them. He saw them weeping, and He wept Himself. Our sorrow affects Him—and maybe even afflicts Him. He sees all the pain and suffering of this world. He sees the effects of sin that have marred His perfect creation. He sees the reality of death, and it breaks His heart.

God is never unmoved by the things that we experience here. He sees a lowly slave girl, pregnant and cast off, and seeks for her where she is. He sees a lowly shepherd boy on a hill and takes notice of a heart that yearns for God. He sees a man He knows will reject Him and seeks him in love anyway. He sees the greatest sorrow in our hearts and comes alongside us to soothe, to heal, to strengthen, even to give us a glimpse of His power and glory that we couldn’t see any other way. This is the God who sees me, who sees all of us every moment of every day. Not an absent and distant God. Not a careless and heartless God. Not a God who would glory in our struggle and leave us to fend for ourselves. But He is a God who sees, who knows, and who takes action to be involved in our world, our lives, our heartaches, and our triumphs. He is a God who sees who we were and yet in the same glimpse who we can be when we finally return His gaze and look to Him in faith and surrender.