Can You See Me?
Out of thousands of residents, I am one of a handful without power. I walk in the bathroom and flip the light switch. Yet again, nothing. I spend a restless night trying in vain to sleep in a bed too warm. The complete silence following the storm leaves nothing to mute the churning thoughts in my mind. I want to scream from the roof, “Turn my power back on! Someone, please fix it! I need power!” I call the power outage hotline but cannot get through. Do they see me? Do they know I need help?
When my sons were little, they had no patience with adult conversations. At church or the grocery store, I would feel a tiny hand slip into my own. A tug, a desperate whisper. “Mom, can we go?” A pause, another tug, harder this time. “Mom!” He wants me to look down, to see him, so I can walk with him where he wants to go.
I walk through my day answering the same question at work, at the grocery store, at the gym, at dinner with my husband. My answer: “I’m fine, thanks.” I deflect with a question of my own: “And, how are you?” On the surface, I present a façade of friendly normalcy, but inside I long to grasp the hand of another. I want someone to look at me, really and truly, to see me and walk with me on the path laid before me.
King David charged his son Solomon in the presence of the officials and leaders of Israel to worship and serve the Lord, obeying all of His commandments. He followed it up with this statement:
“For the LORD sees every heart and knows every plan and thought.”
We, as human beings, may have a natural instinct to hide ourselves from others, to cover ourselves with a façade of friendly normalcy, but God sees us, really and truly. He invites us to slip our hands into His and walk with Him along the path laid out before us. He sees our hearts and loves us completely, perfectly, unconditionally. Being seen by others may be terrifying in its vulnerability but being seen by the Lord is the way forward to humility, forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation.
God sees us, really and truly. He invites us to slip our hands into His and walk with Him along the path laid out before us.
