Feeling a Little Bit Invisible

Do you ever have days when you feel a little bit… invisible? You try to connect with someone and they ignore you and walk on by? On a good day, you realise that it’s probably because they have a lot on their mind, they’re busy with a million other things and most likely just didn’t see you or hear you. On a bad day, it can hurt. Really hurt. A needle worms its way into that meaningful place inside – the place where you feel connection, warmth, love – and jabs away mercilessly, triggering feelings of rejection, loneliness, worthlessness. On a good day, you shrug it off as one of those things. On a bad day, all your insecurities shout foul play and stoke the fires of shame.

Sometimes people in the world, even the ones we love and cherish the most, can be so absorbed by their own issues, thoughts and problems that their actions, or inactions, trigger feelings of unimportance and unworthiness in us. The experience can make us feel invisible. It’s at times like these that it’s helpful to remember that there is someone out there who always watches over us, who always cares, who is always intimately aware of our innermost worries and concerns, even when things feel at their most desperate.

Thousands of years ago, a young slave girl – sad, lonely, mistreated – fled from her mistress into the wilderness. There, in her isolation, in her loneliness, in her pain, she had a supernatural encounter with a God who spoke kindly to her and gave her a precious promise. After the encounter, ‘she gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “you are the God who sees me” (Gen 16:13). In Hebrew this name is El Roi.

El Roi still sees us today, still watches over our every moment. He longs for us to know Him, to see the One who sees us, because He loves us with a deep enduring passion that will never diminish, one that took Him to the cross.

So, the next time I’m feeling a little bit ignored, a little bit isolated, a little bit lonely, a little bit invisible, I’m going to remind myself of this simple truth: that, even though I don’t feel seen by anyone else, God still sees me, and He still loves me with a love that will never, ever fade.