Seen and Known
Feeling forgotten is a reality that so many young women face every single day. Maybe you have a dream that hasn’t come true, an urgent prayer request that seems like God isn’t listening to, or maybe you feel stuck when everyone around you is moving forward. It happens to all of us at some time or another and it hurts. Whatever the cause, it comes down to this: we feel like the Lord has forgotten about us. In these times, we wonder where God is and why He isn’t showing up. We feel like He’s taken a break from caring about us and on our worst days we may even believe that He doesn’t love us or that we’ve become too much of a burden to Him.
We start to feel like the disciples on the boat in Matthew 8 when Jesus is sleeping in the midst of a storm. They cried: “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” (Matthew 8:25). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that in my heart. “Jesus, help me! Do you even care about what’s happening? Are you so disappointed in me and my failure to handle this that You’ve stopped loving me?”
Those thoughts are a dirty trick from the enemy. He wants nothing more than for God’s daughters to walk around feeling unloved by their Father because it paralyzes us. We were never meant to operate outside of His love. Jesus created us to be satisfied in His goodness and to work through life with Him.
When you hear those lies being whispered in your ear, remember what you know is true: Jesus cares so much. God is almighty God, the holder of the Heavens. He is the maker of the oceans and and all the colors you’ve ever seen in a sunset. He is worthy to be praised and His power is to be feared, but He is also deeply invested in you. The Lord has determined that He is holding on to you and I promise you that His will is to never let you go.
Our view of God is too small. When we believe He is angry and tired of us we make His love tiny. How much must it hurt Him when we walk around believing we are a disappointment and a burden to Him? When we trust in our own feelings of not being good enough rather than believing what He actually says about us? When we think that He has forgotten about us but, in reality, He is not only holding the universe in place but also tenderly holding the pieces of our broken hearts?
Beloved, what if you let go and believed that He loves you?
What if you believed that love is steady and strong and fierce? That He is devoted to drawing you closer to His heart because He loves you unconditionally? Imagine the security you would feel if you lived your life believing His truth instead of your feelings. Can you picture the fullness of joy you would find in His presence? What about the bravery you would find in knowing He delights in you as you are?
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” -Zephaniah 3:17
As difficult as it is to believe sometimes, you are not, and never have been, forgotten. He has known you intimately since the beginning of time and He doesn’t plan to stop loving you anytime soon. You are seen and you are known. Take heart, dear one!