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The forest floor wears a shaggy green carpet over fragrant black earth. Recent rain leaves everything feeling spongy underfoot and the spring in my step comes easy. The air is rinsed clean and cool, and I breathe it in greedily, knowing summer smog is not far off when I'll try to breathe shallow to avoid the smelly fumes that make my head feel squeezed too tight. I step slow, eyes ever scanning, hunting rectangles, always framing the rectangles.
There's one!
Just at my feet, a single leaf stands out among all the others. There among countless green leaves, grows one impossible-to-ignore leaf arrayed in shades of sunset. It blushes beautiful, setting its graceful shape in vivid contrast to so much green. How brightly it stands out!
God sees you like that.
You stand out to him . . . all the time.
When you think you're lost in a sea of city, surrounded by too many people . . .
When you're afraid of being unimportant and undistinguished . . .
When you think you'll never be noticed and the things you do won't matter . . .
God sees you like one red leaf in a forest of green.
Millenniums ago in a desert land, hostile and harsh, a young woman walked away from everything she knew, feeling less than one of the grains of sand that burned hot around her. Her womb was swelling with a child no one wanted, and no one wanted her either. She had burned all her bridges. She had despised the one who provided for her. Painfully aware of what she'd done, she felt forgotten, rejected and alone . . . until the God of the universe found her in her wilderness.
He saw the unseen . . . the unwanted . . . the directionless . . . the hopeless.
He saw the unfair . . . the mistreated . . . the bewildered . . . the guilty.
He spoke.
He made wonderful promises.
He made it clear that He saw EVERYTHING
. . . especially her!
Hagar, the young mother, responded in obedience and faith, exclaiming in utter amazement,
“'You are the God who sees me,'”
You may feel lost in the crowd,
but to God, it's as if
you're the only one on His mind.
. . . like one red leaf . . .
How does God's love for Hagar encourage you?
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Joining Ann Voskamp for her Multitude Monday
I hope you'll join in if you haven't already!
In the counting of the endless gifts I say with C. S. Lewis, "This also is Thou!"
341. Norman Rockwell and the evidence he left of what was once so good about America
342. A warm wrap for sore muscles
343. Hugs that say more than words ever could
344. Water that finally boils
345. Sticky notes & binder clips
346. Walking the track with She So Sweet and how she cares about her Momma
347. A tiny, but discernible dent in a BIG project
348. Dinnertime prayer huddles in the kitchen
349. Running out of what you need, only to find plenty more in the pantry
350. Earthly disappointments that make me long for Home
351. A punctured tire that was fixable and they did it for FREE!
352. A Sunday afternoon nap
353. When wisdom prevails
354. That when face to face with the world and its ways, he made a quick and decisive exit
355. Hero Husband's thoughtful, loving act of making chocolate craisin crepes
Also joining L.L. Barkat for:
If you know someone who needs to know they're truly seen by God and by you,
this photo is available as a greeting card.
