The God Who Sees Me

Have you ever felt like you weren’t really seen?  I have to say that I have gone through stretches of time where I felt like many of the people I saw day in and day out didn’t really see me.  Sure, they saw me in the most superficial sense of the word, but they wouldn’t take the time to see my heart, to see my passion, to see my true potential and what I was capable of.  It is a very frustrating thing to feel confined or limited by those who take you at surface value and have never scratched beneath the surface to who you really are.

I don’t know about you, but I already criticize myself enough.  I can be guilty of boxing myself in and believing that I am less than qualified or capable to rise up to the challenge or the task at hand.  When met with people that reinforce the concept that there’s nothing more to me than what meets the eye, it only perpetuates the problem.

There are two things I’ve learned from feeling invisible and misunderstood.  The first thing I’ve learned is that those people who see beneath the surface, come alongside you and help to raise you up to all that God has called you to be are few and far between.  When you find those people, you need to hold onto them.  They are true gems.  Strive to be that kind of person.  Those kind of people have life and love oozing out of their bones, in such a way that it reflects the heart of Jesus to a broken world.

More importantly I have learned this:

God always sees me.

I think about when Samuel anointed David as King.  No one saw David.  Seven of Jesse’s sons had passed before Samuel, before David was even thought of.  He was the last resort.  No one took him too seriously.  I love what the Lord says to Samuel regarding Jesse’s sons: “The Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7).  David was faithful in what the Lord had given him to do, tending the sheep.  David’s lowly position never disqualified him.  The Lord knew what was in David’s heart and all that he was capable of.  In His perfect timing, God raised David up to do all He had purposed for Him to do.

God sees me.  He sees me at my best and He sees me at my worst.  He sees me in my happiness and He sees me in my tears.  He never loses sight of me and even when I box myself in, He knows my true potential.  Sure, He is aware of all the areas where I lack maturity and need to grow, but He is also aware of all of my budding virtues.  He stirs the passions and the giftings inside of me.  He leads me onward to bigger and greater things, all the while making me look more and more like Him.  I am always seen and always known by the one who created me and loved me right from the start.

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me.” (Gen. 16:13)