FRESH THYME
Isn’t being seen the root desire of every human being?
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Just look at toddlers. Once they’re able, they’re constantly demanding attention for the adults in their lives to look at their artwork, watch their dance, or pay attention to what they’re doing. The affirmation they desire from their parents and family members is really a key component to growing up with a healthy self-esteem.
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Just look at those of us who have lived several decades, now. There’s no sadder loneliness than to grow old with no one around that sees us. If our kids don’t see our needs, if those in the world don’t recognize our value, and if we aren’t seen around a table gathering, we feel isolated and wonder why we’re still here on this earth.
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Just look at the shepherds in the Christmas story.
photo courtesy of Doug Gephardt
They were among the lowliest of jobs, unnoticed, hard workers, and of great value…but hardly noticed by society. Think how seen they must have felt when an angel announcing the Messiah appeared to them…first! Having God look down and speak to them while they were tending their sheep must have been the best validation. Can you imagine?
Just look at Mary. A young girl about to be married to a carpenter, hardly even known in their village, and yet God must have seen something in his daughter Mary to call her to bear his Son – Jesus. She praised God, recognized that she’d been seen, and accepted the gift of carrying salvation to the known world. God saw her. Right where she was.
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Just look at Job. Oh, he’d been seen all right, by the most misunderstanding friends that only made him feel worse. But then, after he was able to pour out his wonder and his questions and his pain, he was then seen and heard by the very God he was confused about. Job had been faithful, had God not seen that? Well yes, he had. And you know the end story of Job.
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We were recently watching a series on Prime about this girl that was released from prison and given a job at a horse ranch. She was seen by one of the prison workers who saw value in her, and offered her a job. She made some mistakes right away, but her new boss also saw this young girl because she was a reflection of her own younger life. And when a young man tried to make moves on this young girl she responded,
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“You don’t even know me.”
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I suppose one of the most beautiful aspects of the Christmas story of God so loving the world that he gave his only son to die for our sins and offer us eternal life is the fact that he saw us all. He saw us in our state of needing to be seen, in our weakest moments, when we fail miserably, in our huge successes, and in our most vulnerable state…and he loved us more.
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Have you ever said to someone, “I love you,” and they respond with, “I love you more?” I bet you have. Or maybe you’re the one that said it first.
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I cannot even comprehend God’s love, really. And I often feel I don’t deserve it. I have days where I don’t feel seen by anyone around me, and I don’t even know who I really am, even at my core. It’s because even on my best days, some of my motives are impure, my thoughts are less than stellar about God and others, and my life isn’t want I’d hoped it would be. And yet…
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He sees me. He gets me. He loves me. He places value on my life. He validates who I am.
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And just who is that?
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I’m made in the image of a God that sees, gives, and cares selflessly, so much that he laid down his life for you and me.
And that means I am seen. Always. Forever. Stamped and sealed.
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It means the same for you.
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Merry Christmas.