God Sees You
1 Peter 1:1-2 (The Message)
I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!
Some church school kids were queuing for lunch in the canteen. A large plate of apples bore a notice: ‘One only. God is watching!’
On the other side of the long counter was a plate of chocolate cookies with a note written in a childish hand: ‘Take as many as you like! God is watching the apples.’
When we read the phrase: ‘God the Father has his eye on each of you’ do we feel a slight flutter of anxiety? Do we have an image of God watching our every move in order to catch us doing something wrong with a rather disapproving look on his face? If so, we couldn’t have got it more wrong.
My younger sister has grown up with multiple physical and mental needs. When our mother died who had cared for her for many years, she was absolutely bereft. While staying with me, one night she had a vision of Jesus standing at the bottom of her bed. ‘Jill,’ she said afterwards in wonder, ‘You should have seen the look on his face!’
Please know that, as God looks at you, the expression on his face is lovelier and more loving than bride and groom at the altar, than father seeing his new-born, than birthday girl opening a longed-for present. Fold all those expressions together – they are nothing compared with the love, joy, compassion, pride on God’s face as he looks at you.
God has children beyond numbering but ‘not one is missing, not one forgotten’.
Loneliness comes from feeling invisible. If you’re in a crowd, you can still feel lonely if you think no-one notices you. Do you ever feel invisible to those around you? You are visible all the time to God and he loves you every moment.
Reflect: Is there someone I know who might be feeling ‘invisible’ just now. Can I do something to show them that they are ‘seen and loved’?
Jill Rattle