Are You Feeling Invisible?
Do you ever feel like giving up? Like what you do doesn't matter to anyone, so why should you keep at it?
Maybe you have a job where you can't seem to get ahead, because nobody seems to notice, much less appreciate, your hard work.
Maybe you're the mother of small children, with days full of diapers and sticky fingers and mountains of laundry. And it seems like everybody else is out there having adventures and doing important things, while you spend your time on the mundane and trivial, and nobody sees. Nobody cares.
Maybe you're a writer, opening yet another rejection letter, wondering if anybody's ever going to want to read these words that you've labored over for hours, months, years.
Life can be hard on those who dream, who try.
Sometimes it seems like nobody sees, nobody cares, and it would be easy to just give up, quit, and go watch TV.
I've certainly been there.
Whether it's writing my novel or writing this blog, I struggle from time to time with the feeling that I'm wasting my time–nobody sees, nobody cares but me, so why should I keep at it? There are easier ways to spend my time!
The past few days, I keep thinking about Hagar–the slave woman in the middle of the Bible story of Abraham and Sarah. Do you know that story? God had spoken to Abraham and promised him that he'd be the father of nations, but his wife Sarah was barren, and they both were old. In her desperation for a child, Sarah gave her slave woman, Hagar, to Abraham to bear a child for her. Hagar gave birth to Abraham's son, but then God performed a miracle and 90-plus-year-old Sarah also conceived. Sarah then became jealous of Hagar and her child, and sent them out into the desert to die.
Sitting there alone in the desert, Hagar knew that she and her child were rejected and abandoned, without friends and without hope. But God saved her and gave her a promise of her own. And she named him El Roi–the God who sees.
The God who sees.
I am clinging to this concept these days. Turning it over and over in my mind. The omnipotent God who created the universe is the God who sees me.
He sees you, too.
I've noticed that each time I reach the point where I feel invisible and unimportant, like what I'm doing is a waste of time and I should just quit, someone will cross my path with a word of encouragement that gives me the energy to keep at it just a little bit longer. I am so grateful for those people.
And I want to be that person for you. I want you to know that what you do matters. Believe that. You bring something unique and important to every task you undertake: you bring yourself, and that matters.
It matters to the God who sees you.
And for that reason, it matters to me, too.
Do you feel discouraged? Does your dream feel far away, or does your daily effort feel wasted and unappreciated? I'd like to hear about it. Maybe we can encourage each other.
Please leave a comment below, or if you'd rather not talk about it publicly, email me. I promise I'll respond.
Greenville, Texas
I Was Just Thinking . . .
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Twitter: @LauraMcMom
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