Life application on El Roi, God who sees

One of the things that set apart David from Saul was that David inquired of the LORD [Yahweh] because he wanted to follow God’s will for him (c.f. 1 Samuel 23:4, 30:8, 2 Samuel 2:1, 5:19, 5:23). In this way David was a man after God’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14) who waited for God to make things clear for him before he acted because he valued God’s opinion over his own or anyone else’s opinion.

We get into spiritual problems when we take shortcuts thinking that El Roi, God who sees us, is too slow to act and we or other people are smarter to know what to do with our own lives now than El Roi, God who sees. Has Instant gratification, demand for results and productivity, and pride blinded us to the virtue of waiting on El Roi, God who sees?

Taking shortcuts in spiritual journey is antithesis to the journey Jesus wants us to be on, through the small gate and on the narrow road that leads to life, that only a few find it (Matthew 7:14). The consequence of taking shortcuts in spiritual journey is that we become fools who cannot see El Roi God who sees us, who notices us and cares for us.

Read Genesis 16 and …

Consider the two stories, one of Abram and Sarai, the other of Hagar.

• Describe Abram and Sarai’s sins in this passage.
• How did their sins prevent them from seeing God, El Roi, God who sees?

In contrast, Hagar was able to see El Roi, God who sees at work in her life.

• What sets Hagar apart from the attitude of Abram and Sarai?
• What insight do you have about God in the way he interacted with Hagar?

Personalize

• What does it look like for you to take shortcuts impatiently instead of waiting on El-Roi, God who sees?
• Share your experience of meeting El Roi as Hagar did.
• What does it mean for you that God is El Roi, God who sees?

Pray

• Ask God to instill in you the patient obedience of Christ instead of taking shortcuts godlessly.
• Ask God to experience more of him as El Roi, God who sees, who searches you and knows you, who knows you when you sit and when you rises, who discerns your going out and your lying down, who is familiar with all your ways (Psalm 139:1-3).