Did You Notice?

 

"The most basic of all human needs is to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." ~ Ralph Nichols, Author, aka "Father of Listening"

👀 Remember Highlight (yep, that old) magazines? One of the things I used to love to do in them is to examine two pictures that were essentially the same but contained a certain amount of differences between them to be identified.  These days, of course, you can play it online or in an app.  But you had to really pay attention to the detail and concentrate.  Here's an example:

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👀 It's all in the details.  Think of that person who, every time you see them they remember something about your life, or something you said, and it was just so meaningful because it conveys that you are important enough to them to be thought of.  

Our God notices each and every one of us.  

"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the 

evil and the good." Prov 15:3

Jesus went out of His way to cross paths with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:4-42), to recognize Zacchaeus in the tree and dine with him at his house (Luke 19:1-10), to continue to look for opportunities to disciple His apostles (Matt 16:5-20, Matt 17:24-27, Matt 18:1-9), to heal the Canaanite woman's daughter (Matt 15:21-28), to heal a man with leprosy and a paralyzed man (Luke 5:12-20), to invite Levi the tax collector to follow Him (Luke 5:27-31), to acknowledge some of His power went out of Him to a bleeding woman (Mark 5:25-34), as well as so many other examples.

And many of these people He noticed were those who were unnoticed or acknowledged by their society - they were shunned, shamed, ignored, thought of as insignificant, and suffering (whether they knew it or not).  

But Jesus acknowledged them.  If Jesus was walking this earth today and I bumped into Him on the street, I know He would find the time to let me know He was thinking of me and my life.  And then He would listen to my response.  Really listen.

👀 But we don't need to think of it as missing out because we didn't live at the same time as Jesus did.  He sees each and every one of us today, knows our past and future, our hurts and desires.  He notices the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated and rejected.  

We can talk to Him any time and He really listens.

"In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From His Temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears." Psalm 18:6

He longs for us to understand that His love for us runs so deep that He left perfect heaven to come down to sin-laden earth, where He went to the cross that He was forced to carry (probably about 100 lbs), endured 9 inch heavy metal spikes pounded into His hands and feet and a crown of thorns pressed into His skull, so He could be the payment for each of us that lived then and lives today.

He promises to pursue us when He notices we are the one out of 100 who wander like lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7) or prodigal children (Luke 15:11-31), rejoicing over our return to Him. 

👀 Jesus makes us His priority, and He affirms it to each one of us in every way if we just ask. He guides and comforts us through His Word, His Holy Spirit, and other believers.  He cares about the details in our lives, because He Himself faced the same sufferings-

"This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." Heb 4:15-16

👀 We are comforted by Him, so we can then comfort others the same way.  Let's be the one that notices.

✙ Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for noticing us.  Thank You that nothing goes unnoticed by You- Your omniscience lets You be near to each of us all the time, protecting, guiding, enabling, comforting and loving us.  Can You help us to make noticing others a priority?  Can You cause us to consider others more important than ourselves and encourage them as You have done with us?  We need Your help with this Lord, but we know You know that 😊 Amen.