"How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, 'I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you'." -John 1:48
Have you ever felt unnoticed? Left out? Invisible? Like an extra or unwanted piece in a jigsaw puzzle? I think it's safe to say that each one of us have felt unnoticed and lonely at one time or another. For some of us that may mean getting overlooked for a promotion at work, not being invited to that friend's birthday party, or still being single while everyone around you is married. We want to be seen, yet find ourselves overlooked once again. There are plenty of reasons we could list as to why we sometimes feel unnoticed. Yet if we take a close look at Scripture, we see that even in our loneliest moments God is always present...especially when we need Him the most.
God's silence never equates to His absence.
If you've been walking with Jesus for a while now, you will have encountered periods where Heaven seems as an iron gate. Our times of prayer feel like a waste of time, as if we are talking to a wall. As Christians we will go through seasons where our prayers seem to fall on deaf ears. In these moments, God's silence can be very disheartening to us. I have encountered this and I am sure you have as well. But the Bible reveals that even in the darkest hour, God sees and hears us. His silence, though it may feel prolonged, is only for a season and oftentimes it is to work in us fruit and bring out the gold.
It never ceases to amaze me what a perfect example Jesus set for us while here on Earth. He did not just become a man and die on the cross. But while on Earth, He experienced the same type of sufferings, temptations, and trials that each one of us face. The book of Hebrews tells me that Jesus is the perfect High Priest because He can relate to us by everything He suffered (Hebrews 4:15). (Not only did He suffer, however, but He also overcame thereby showing us the way into victory over sin, satan, and anything else 🙌). This means that Jesus also encountered the Father's silence. On the cross, while bearing the sin of the whole world on His shoulders, at the most difficult moment in His entire life, Jesus prayed the following: "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?") Matt 27:46. His prayer was met with silence. For the first time in His life, Jesus experienced two things simultaneously...the Father's silence and absence. The moment that sin touched the life of Jesus, the Holy Spirit left Him for Hab 1:13 states "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing". God is too holy to allow sin in His presence. So for the first time, Jesus was completely alone. The Father was silent. The Holy Spirit left Him. The eleven disciples had fled for fear of the Jews and His own friend betrayed Him. He was completely alone...
Don't allow a temporary suffering to distort your view of God.
I can only imagine what Jesus must have felt on the cross. Guilt, shame, humiliation, loneliness, and even rejection. Every negative emotion must have crossed through His soul as He hung there dying. All this added to the physical agony He was already experiencing. Just think about everything He must have felt at that moment! There He was dying for the same people that betrayed, mocked, and scorned Him. I imagine the thoughts running through his mind. "Maybe I'm not really God's Son", "Is it really God's will for me to be on this cross?" "Why doesn't the Father answer my prayers?!" His suffering was great. More than any man could ever bear. Yet Jesus did not allow a season of trials and suffering to make Him bitter against the Father. We know this because He later stated "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46) It is easy to love God in periods of blessing and abundance. But it's hard to do so in suffering. It doesn't take faith to trust God during a harvest but it does during a famine.
Faith gets tested in suffering...
If anyone, in the history of time, could have felt rejected and ignored by the Father it would have been Jesus. It would have been easy for Jesus to become bitter at the Father. After all, Jesus had done everything the Father instructed (John 5:19) and yet on the cross, the Holy Spirit left Him. It was when He most needed His Father that He was not there. Heaven was silent. Yet Jesus, did something remarkable that most of us neglect to do, did not allow His feelings to dictate His actions...He pushed faith to the driver's seat and forced His feelings to the back. He kept going. It required faith to keep going when everything and everyone was set against Him. At this point on the cross, He did not even have the Holy Spirit there helping Him. Yet He put His faith in God's Word. Jesus knew God and believed that even in death His prayers would be answered. His faith was tested and He passed the test with flying colors.
We must know God...not just know about Him.
Jesus knew the Father. Jesus knew His character, attributes, and who He is at the very core. It is this knowing of Him, that allowed Jesus to bypass every emotion He felt and trust the Father's will and plan for His life and death. When troubles come (which none of us are exempt from them), it so important for us to truly know God. Knowing the character of God will prevent us from blaming Him when suffering comes. Knowing God will help us face our trials with greater resolve to stand strong. I have often said this but the knowing of God was the ultimate difference in the lives and outcome of Moses and Israel. "He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel." (Psalm 103:7) Moses was a true friend of God and great prophet (Deut 34:10) while Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years blaming God at every turn and never reaching their final destination. The difference in attitudes is quite stark yet the answer quite simple. We must become acquainted with God! Because knowing His character will prevent us from falling prey to many pitfalls and unnecessary heartaches.
Take heart! God sees you a far off...
Many times when I pray ardently, I feel that I am the one who is desperately seeking God. But the truth is that God is the one who is longing for my presence. He is patiently waiting and always inviting me to spend time with Him. God sees me even when I don't see Him. I love the story of Nathanael coming to Jesus because it shows that long before he arrived, he was on Jesus heart. So it is with us. Jesus doesn't just see us when we come to Him. But He sees us when we are a long way off. When we have no intention of coming near, He sees us. When we are deep in sin, He sees us. When we are in the midst of suffering, He sees us. He is always looking and praying for us even if we don't see Him...He sees us.
Reader, I want you to know how truly special you are to the Lord. Jesus does not see the way the world sees. He looks at your heart, your pain and suffering, Jesus sees YOU! In the midst of the pain and suffering you are facing, the Lord sees you and never mistake His silence for absence. He heard your prayers and seen your tears. He knows you and you are NEVER forgotten to Him.
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