EL SHADDAI

The God Who Sees ... Me!

Hagar in despair, alone in the wilderness.

Zoe, my granddaughter, and Cameron her husband came over to our place for a visit. While the family all gathered downstairs, I was up in my room, but I could clearly hear the joyful sounds of their conversation. Suddenly, Zoe and the other grandkids spontaneously broke out singing. They’ve done this all their lives as they’ve grown up together, and they do this so naturally that it never ceases to fill me with wonder. Zoe often participates in Karaoke singing at a local restaurant where she’s become quite popular. She has a beautiful voice and sings like a professional recording artist. On this night, she was practicing one of her songs: *El Shaddai*, my all-time favorite. The moment she began, tears filled my eyes. This song speaks to me as no other can. It confronts me with my own experience of redemption, with the ONE who redeemed me; it never fails to pierce me with the reality and power of the God I both serve and adore.

“Through the blood and through the Ram, He saved the son of Abraham… to the outcast on her knees, HE is the God who really sees…”

These words remind me that God, though He is Almighty, yet He also willingly condescends to the lowliest of the low.

… a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, thou wilt not despise. -Psalms 51:17

He is the God who truly sees.

Every time I hear this song, it strikes me afresh like thunder, reminding me of who God is—Holy, Good, and full of Love, Mercy and Compassion. It brings me to that place of awe and reverence, where my heart bows in sincere submission. It’s here, in this place, that I remember, and understand anew the Apostle’s words: “God is Love.”

Each time this revelation comes, my heart is rejuvenated and thrills within me and cries out, “I am a servant of El Shaddai!” And so it did this night, as my granddaughter sang,

“El-Shaddai, El-Shaddai, El-Elyon na Adoni, age to age your still the same, by the power of the name … El-Shaddai,”

The name “Shaddai” in Hebrew means “Almighty,” according to the English Dictionary its exact origin is uncertain. But those who have encountered HIM would never say this, for they know the power behind His name. El Shaddai and Jesus Christ are one and the same.

For me, this name takes me back to my first encounter with Him. Like Hagar, I was the broken, abandoned outcast, lost in a wilderness of hopelessness. And in that place of despair, I found God. Better yet, He found me.

In that moment, I knew—He saw me!