Have you ever felt invisible? No matter what you do, you are not noticed, let alone hear the words “thank you.” The following scenarios tell of two people who walked down a road of solitude and were not always validated by people in their lives. You may be walking down the same pathway.
One day, Jesus was in the temple and noticed a widow casting two small copper coins into the treasury. After she left, H
e called His disciples to Himself and said that she had given more than all the rest. She gave everything she had out of her poverty, but the rich had only given out of their surplus. Mark 12:41
It was prophesied before his birth that John the Baptist would prepare the way for the Lord and would live a restricted life. He lived in the wilderness, wore camel’s hair and a leather belt, and ate locusts and wild honey. He did not venture out from his surroundings, but rather people came to him to hear his message from God about keeping the precepts of the law that were established through Moses.
We have a whole book relating God’s words, actions and His relationships with individuals and nations, but if we could write another book about the lack of responses to people and situations, we may fill countless pages. When Jesus was in the temple, noticing a woman’s gift, He did not get her attention and say to her that she had done a wonderful thing, nor do we find through John’s ministry did Jesus ever go back to the wilderness so he could tell him what a great job he was doing.
John was in jail because he declared that Herod had broken the law of God by taking his brother’s wife. Jesus didn’t even visit to bring him some encouragement. John knew he was doomed, would lose his life and so sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus the question if He was the Messiah or should they look for someone else. Jesus did not run to John’s rescue but told the disciples to tell John the blind see and the deaf hear. Matthew 11:3
Jesus waited until John’s disciples were gone and then said to the crowd, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen any greater than John the Baptist, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11 John did not hear the words Jesus had spoken about his faithfulness to his prophetic mission. In fact, within a short amount of time he became a martyr for his faith. He was the last prophet of the law because Jesus’ sacrifice made way for the new covenant of grace and forgiveness - the inability for man to earn it himself.
John 14:17 says, “You know and recognize Him (the Holy Spirit), for He lives with you constantly and will be in you.” When Jesus saw the woman in the temple leave, and when He heard of John’s death, He knew neither one of them experienced isolation; they were not alone.
What if God has asked you to live a life where you would not be thanked for good actions? What if all your deeds were seen by an audience of only One, and there was no audible evidence of approval? You may have given all you have, looked in your heart and found nothing more. You just may have to wait to hear “well done” when you see the One Who sees everything. It’s called faith in the One to Whom we are one.
Father, may we be like an unnamed woman that gives without notice or a single-minded man that gives his entire life in pursuit of a calling beyond his own ability to fulfill.
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