The Hope of Being Seen

Being seen is a powerful thing. 

This morning, I went through a drive-thru. The man who was ahead of me in line pulled through, got his food, and proceeded to try to place trash in the garbage can at the end of the line before exiting. As he did, the trash fell to the ground. He glanced in his rearview mirror, and when he saw me watching, he got out of his vehicle and put the trash in the can. My bet is if my eyes had been cast anywhere else, he was going to drive away, sight unseen, and the trash would have been left on the ground. 

We do a lot of things because we want to be seen. Our desire is to be valued, beloved, held, chosen. We want to matter. 

Just like that man today, we do a lot of things when we forget we are already seen. Sometimes, we get away with doing things that tarnish our souls. When we feel unseen, we give into lusts and cravings and that’s all another way to fill our longing to matter. To feel more important than we do. Sometimes we cry out to the world, “Look at me. I am hopeless. Love me.” But the world loves itself. It laughs and sneers, throws trash on you and walks away.

We cast our eyes down in shame unable to make a way for ourselves. The world walks by as we fall further down into the pit of despair. We feel alone and afraid.

We forget that there is One whose beautiful gaze is always there.

No matter how far down we’ve fallen, He’s always beside us, whispering, “Beloved.”

Instead of looking up and out to the world’s way, or looking down in shame, He calls us to look at Him beside us. He tenderly cups our faces, pulls us from our crestfallen ways, and says, “LOOK at ME.”

“How much have I loved you? I’ve never taken my eyes off of you. When my Father turned His gaze from me because I carried your rags to the cross with me, I looked out at you. It’s because of My Father’s love for me and you that I stayed fixed there. Sweet One, I died for You. Have you so quickly forgotten? Forgive them, for they know not what they do. Yes, dear, that was you!”

You are seen. And being seen is a powerful thing. Just like the man today, who changes his actions when he saw someone watching, being seen keeps us holy. Being seen keeps us clean. It helps follow the way of the King.

You are seen. And being seen shows us we matter and so does everything we do.

You are seen. You are the Beloveds and He is yours. Would you dare to look at Him today?

photo credit: www.chrisbirds.com I dare you to look into my soul via photopin (license)

Written with Psalm 40 and Hebrews 12:2 in mind.