Being Fully Seen By the One Who Matters Most
Post originally appeared at The Joyful Life Magazine
Have you done any gardening this year? I have. And if these plants could talk they might tell you they would have preferred going home with someone else. I am a determined and wildly untalented gardener.
But there has been one outlier in my garden—a 7-foot tall sunflower that shared its radiance not only with my kitchen window but with the whole neighborhood. It grew so heavy with seeds it couldn’t hold up its head.
Right next to that giant sunflower, from the same pack of seeds, grew a tiny sunflower. About 1 foot tall. Gorgeous yellows. But she didn’t stretch high above our fence to show off. You could say she lacked an audience.
Have you felt like that tiny sunflower? Not as noticeable. Not as desirable. Yet constantly compared to the best and brightest of your species?
Many of us feel that way, especially now. Our lives are primarily on screens, facilitated by text and likes. Our sense of identity can feel shaky with the lack of personal contact and feedback.
Yet the busyness of our social circle and the size of our audience has never determined our beauty, worthiness, or likability. Our God who never changes has imbued us with value that never changes.
In seasons of solitude or quiet, when we feel left behind, He has still chosen us and claimed us as His own (1 Corinthians 1:9, John 15:16). He likes us. He approves. And maybe most vital, He is always available.
His love and devotion is toward the giant sunflower and the tiny. He sees no difference between the two. Rest in the knowledge that in the same way you are fully seen and wholly loved today by the One who matters most.