I have been thinking a lot about the lives of Muslim women.  In many countries, the culture is incomprehensible to those of us looking at it through a Western lens.  I read a book over the summer called A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini which centered around the lives of women in Afghanistan.  These women lived difficult lives marked by isolation, abuse and total lack of power.  Most countries are not as extreme as Afghanistan, but it got me thinking of how Muslim women perceive God in light of their circumstances.  Do they see him as a compassionate Father who desires a relationship with them or a distant Being with demands they are always striving to meet?  Then I got to thinking how feeling overlooked, powerless, isolated and invisible certainly isn’t limited to Muslim women.  There is a passage in Genesis which I absolutely love because of the name that is ascribed to God.  As far as I know, it is the only time this name  is used in the bible.  The story is about Hagar, the servant of Abraham and Sarah, who has fled their home after conceiving Abraham’s child and being mistreated by Sarah.  An angel of the Lord speaks to Hagar about her descendants and the son she is carrying, and Hagar responds, “You are the God who sees me.”  El Roi is the name in Hebrew.  I love this because it such a powerful truth about the God we serve.  He sees us where we are even when we feel unseen.  He speaks to us directly and not only knows our name but has numbered the hairs on our head (Matt. 10:30).  We cross paths every day with people who would love to know that God sees them.  Will we point them towards El Roi?