seen

 The Lord in His humor schooled me at church this morning. 

As humbled as this always makes me feel, His keen eye of the heart and His precise correction also always makes me feel LOVED. What mighty God of the universe cares enough to redirect His children? What Lord of Heaven's Armies takes the time to mold the bents out of those He loves?

Ours.

Long story short, my attitude was sour. 

I was not being seen nor heard. Nobody was checking on me. Nobody cared that I was there, probably. Nobody sees all the things or appreciates them. 

I don't know why it was getting to me.  

But the more it was getting to me, the more I was seeing it grow.

I am not proud of some of my self-pitying thoughts.

As I was growing and tending them, the Lord interrupted me...a grace made possible by a heart that has genuinely loved and celebrated His correction before. 

He brought my attention back to a small and seemingly insignificant thing someone had said to me earlier in the lobby about an absent brother. 

He allowed me to compassionately (despite my heart posture!) imagine far more to this man's story, and to imagine that small thing he mentioned actually being a BIG thing, that minor inconvenience actually being a crippling additional heap to the pile. An irritating thing actually perhaps being a deeply discouraging one. 

I texted Matt, at the office preparing for our Sunday evening church service, mid announcements. 

I think we need to check on him. I sense that he might be deeply discouraged by this.

Now, my heart on another, I went back to my praying, pointing out all the reasons I knew for sure that I was insignificant and uncared for.

And then He used a different hurting person to show me that my interpretation of things was entirely wrong. And that even if it hadn't been, it's never been about me, and I don't even WANT it to be. He graciously made it about one after another man, woman and child this morning, and healed my heart in His perspective.

He loves them each so deeply, and loves ME in the loving of them.

Do I want to be princessed? Or do I want to be poured out?

Do I want to be served and seen, or do I want to be USED by God?

Do I want churches and relationships that make me feel good and centered on, or do I want all of life focused on Him...and to be reflecting Him, pointing to Him, always?

Do I want attended to? Or do I want to run to the sound of pain and meet Him there?

There are a LOT of hurting people out there.

If you're one of them, go find one. 

See them, show up for them, go check in on them...and see how He heals our souls, as He has mine a million times, by showing us HIS great love--our Daily Bread...more than enough. 

Here is to CHRIST being SEEN!