Maneuvers - No. 12
Your Heavenly Father
Sees You
With the chaotic pace of the world around us, it’s normal to feel unseen, unheard, unnecessary, even unimportant.
But just because those feelings are normal doesn’t make them true.
Have you ever felt as though you had to go, go, go because you were afraid that if you paused for even a moment, you would lose everything you worked for? Maybe it’s people’s respect, or the security of wealth, or relationships you depend on, or an internal track record you secretly keep.
It looks different for each of us. For some of us, we might take on too many volunteer tasks at church. Others may slave away in the office long after closing. Or maybe we’re pulled into yet another hours-long conversation with someone who has deep emotional and spiritual needs they want us to fill.
Sometimes we relentlessly work because we want to become something better, because we don’t like who we are right now. Not enough anyway. So we erase our boundaries, put our heads down, and push on.
If we live that way long enough, friend, we burn out. We weren’t made to live that way. We need rest. And we need contentment to rest.
The truth is that there’s nothing we have to do or change to become seen or necessary. We already are those things. You are already those things.
The question is, will we let our heavenly Father show us this truth? How much he loves us, sees us, knows us, can use us?
If you’re willing to let him show you, we invite you to read today’s FLAG message with an open heart—and an open imagination.
01.
The Message
“Do not be confused about who you are. Do not even be confused about where you are. There is not a different place you need to be. There is not a different personality trait you need to have—for there is no personality trait in you that I disdain. Do not be paralyzed with worry that you are not living your life in the way I hoped you would. But listen: your life is a gift most enjoyed when it is lived with me.
“Take my hand now. Please. Hold out your hand. Open your imagination to feel me taking it. Come now. Or, if you are more comfortable, you don’t have to take my hand. You can let me walk with you, stand with you. Let me show you and teach you the way you can live and be.
“Are your eyes on me now? Is your heart turned toward me? Do not be distracted. Stay with me. Stay here. Now listen.
“The world minimizes a day of rest as foolish. The world makes you feel like everything is up to you to accomplish so you better go, go, go. The world makes you feel small, unimportant, unseen. But I see you. I see you. And I have already given everything to be with you. So do not minimize your life. Do not minimize the power of time spent with me.
“I am your teacher. I am your guide. I am the one who speaks to your heart and who fills you with everything you need to accomplish a task I’ve given you to do, everything you need to converse with someone in front of you. You are designed to love. You are made to love.
“With your life, with your choices, with your decisions, with your time, reflect me. Pour out me. Speak like me. Act like me. Love like me. Trust the cadence of this day. Trust the details I unfold before you.”
02.
Listen
Teacher. Guide. The one who speaks to you. The one who fills you. The one who loves you. How do these descriptions of God impact you? What would you like to say to our heavenly Father in response to today’s message?
03.
Think
“But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works” (Psalm 73:28, ESV).
1. In what areas of your life have you neglected rest or have struggled to implement healthy boundaries?
2. What internal motivations cause you to live this way? Take time to think deeply about this question. Sometimes the reason we strive non-stop goes deeper than we realize.
3. What does God have to say about those reasons? Let’s pull out our Bibles and find Scriptures that speak to the specific motives we listed in response to Question 2.
04.
Trust
Together, let’s read the biblical account of when Jesus visited Mary and Martha’s home in Luke 10:38-42. If you’ve read this story many times before, we encourage you to approach this passage with fresh eyes. (If it helps, try reading it in another version of the Bible.)
As we read together, we encourage you to use your imagination to see the situation unfold, as if it were happening in your own living room.
As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home.
She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen.
Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. “Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”
The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”
Could you see what happened? Could you see Jesus entering his friends’ home, laughing as he greeted them, kissing them on the cheek, asking about their lives, and excitedly sharing what his Father had laid on his heart?
Now think about Martha. Picture this scene from her perspective. How do you think she felt when she saw Jesus arrive? Did she want him to feel welcomed and at home? Do you think she wanted everything to be perfect because she hoped it would make him feel loved?
Let’s go even deeper. When she saw Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet, enjoying sweet friendship with him while Martha was relentlessly working, how do you think she felt? Ignored? Overlooked? Unimportant? Unseen? Perhaps the very thing she was doing (working) to feel important was only making her miserable—and causing her to miss out on fellowship with Jesus.
Dear friend, do you feel like Martha today? Trying so hard to be seen and heard, but never feeling like you’re doing quite enough?
Let’s allow Jesus’ words to speak to our own hearts: “You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary” (Luke 10:41-42, ESV).
Pause a moment and allow these words to sink deeper, not as a rebuke, but as an invitation. And now, let’s pray…
05.
Pray
Jesus, I love you so much. I want to be able to simply rest with you and enjoy sweet friendship. I’ve fallen so many times for the lie that I can’t stop, that I have to keep working and pushing to be good enough for you.
Help me let go of that mindset and believe the truth of what you say and think about me. That you see me. That you love me. That you can and will use me in incredible ways. Right now, I choose to believe that. Help me walk by faith in these truths so I can reflect you and pour you out to those around me.
I surrender to you today. Please help me create healthy boundaries of rest and joy in my life. I want to work hard, of course, but I don’t want to worship my own efforts. Help me discern the difference and live with your peace. I love you. You are the one thing I need.
Amen.
Waving the banner with you,
