FEELING SEEN
Kendra Intihar
Today’s Scripture: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”1 Samuel 16:7b
Theme: God loves us even when we don't love ourselves.
TAKE OFF THE HELMET
In the movie “Wonder,” Augie’s dad encourages him to live his life without his face-hiding helmet. He tells him that he loves his son’s face simply because it’s the face of his son. He doesn’t need another reason to love and miss seeing his child’s face other than his deep affection for him. Have you ever felt this level of belovedness and security? That even the thing you are most embarrassed by – perhaps even your defining characteristic – is lovable and loved because YOU are lovable and loved?
WHEN VULNERABILITY LEADS TO HURT
Recently, I saw a social media post that asked the question: “What did you consider an indicator of wealth when you were young?” Have you ever thought about this? So many came to mind for me: two bathrooms in a house, a neighborhood with a sign out front, a paved driveway, shoes that didn’t have red clay on them, six-panel doors, plush carpet, an “upstairs,” a basement. I could go on and on. Of course, some of these things were silly, but in my young mind, they meant a person was “rich.”
A boyfriend of mine in high school knew that I was sensitive about my family’s lack of…everything. I had been vulnerable enough to say it aloud when he asked why I never invited him over. One day, we got into an argument, and he revealed that he’d found out where I lived and drove by my house. I felt mortified and ashamed. The last words he said to me before hanging up were saturated in sarcasm and hurtfulness: “Nice house, by the way.” Click.
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
I met the boy who would become my husband a couple of years later. My first month in college, in fact. By then, I had only barely become smart enough to realize that if someone judged me the way I had always judged myself, they weren’t right for me anyway. So I took the leap and invited him home. And you know what? It’s been 22 years, and he’s still here. He still visits my childhood home with me. The gravel driveway, the red clay, the back roads: he loves all of it...because he loves me.
In much the same way, God has always loved me, even when I didn’t love myself. His love doesn’t require that I show up flawless – He is perfecting me, still, and loving me thoroughly along the way.
Make It Personal: Friends, God sees you. He knows you inside and out. He sees the things about you that you are embarrassed by, but He is not embarrassed by them in the least. He loves exactly the “you” that He created you to be. If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be loved unconditionally, you don’t have to wonder anymore. You are a beloved child of God, and He is utterly delighted by you.
Pray: Lord, I see all my faults and failures up close. In the moments when I don’t like who I am, will you remind me that You do? Help me to live my life true to who You’ve created me to be and deeply aware of my belovedness in You. Let me love others without pretense or precondition, just as You have asked me to do. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.
Read: Romans 8:35; John 3:16; Zephaniah 3:17
Weekly Memory Verse: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7, NIV