When Life Makes You Feel Unseen

I would love to say we all go through life never feeling unseen or overlooked. Most of us will experience a season in our lives that makes us feel disconnected from the world and others. It will require an extraordinary amount of faith to truly know your worth is in Christ and Him alone.

When times are challenging, we come to know that God’s ways are often beyond our understanding. We can spin our wheels trying to figure out all the tiny details until we are exhausted. Our hearts can fill with questions that can drown us in the sea of “Why God?” We will discover that being able to live peacefully in these hard spaces will only come with growth and experience.

God grows our faith roots deep in the soil of adversity. It is also in the uncultivated soil of wilderness places and deep in the valleys of solitude that God often plants our knees. Here, He tends to our hearts with great care and holds us by His attentive gaze in this special place that a man named Lazarus knew all too well—this challenging place called “beyond the gate.”

Unlike others, God sees us no matter where we are in life.  He even sees all that surrounds us. He especially notices the downtrodden and those suffering. He sees the unnoticed and overlooked. He even gives special attention to those deemed unworthy and most unlikely to succeed in society. His love and special affection go beyond what is standard, all the rave, and even the norm. His understanding stretches beyond what is often warmly received.

The passage in Luke 16:19-31 tells the story of a man named Lazarus who found himself living seemingly unnoticed and forgotten in a place called beyond the gate. I have read the verse many times, and it was the subject of numerous Sunday school lessons when I was a child.

The lesson takes on a much deeper meaning as an adult, serving as an invitation for life application.

This passage tells the story of the rich man who showed no compassion or empathy for the poor man named Lazarus. He had so much he could have shared, yet he did not give thought to this man who lived outside of what concerned him personally.

I was surprised that the word poor takes on a deeper meaning in Jewish culture. The meaning is most accurately expressed by the phrase achikha, which means brother. The word poor also means more than just someone who doesn’t have enough financially; it also describes anyone less fortunate, unable to care for themselves, or down on their luck. In Jewish culture, this can include people with disabilities or widows without children to care for them. To have the mind of Christ toward them would be to look after them as you would your brother or family, for they would be considered the very family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25:44-45 (NIV) that to pass over our brother in need is the same as passing over Him. “Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” We can never truly be at the center of God’s will and fail to give special attention to God’s people suffering around us.

Many times, I admit that I can become completely absorbed in my own life.

I think only about my celebrations, my problems, and even my ordinary to-do lists. My vision becomes limited to seeing only what is directly in front of me. It takes God to extend my vision to see beyond what is in my own backyard. Let’s face it, if we are honest, we will  at times, spend our time mostly concerned about “me and mine.” 

The truth is that we can all be like the rich man, going about our own lives entirely oblivious to those suffering right in front of us. Lazarus never desired the rich man’s wealth; he only desired to be seen and comforted in his time of need.

We can unexpectedly find ourselves in situations where we understand what it’s like to live beyond the gate, like Lazarus. This is where people intentionally and unintentionally fail to see and acknowledge you. Their lives move on, leaving you in the same season of an illness or financial setback. They move on as a couple, and you are seemingly left behind to navigate a life of being single and alone.  A widow whose grief lasts longer than her family and friends’ attention spans, and before they go on with their lives and plans.

Perhaps you are in a season of feeling overlooked in one area or another, while others enjoy new opportunities and adventures. Maybe you think your ordinary and mundane days continue to stretch into an endless sea of loneliness. This place is where, over time, people stop calling and visiting. You long for just a small portion of their time, but are continually passed over for brighter and more exciting things. You spend your days feeling unseen and wonder some days if anyone cares at all.

Even though the rich man did not acknowledge Lazarus,  He was known wholly even to the innermost parts of His heart, for God truly saw him. His healing came, and He was given special attention by the One who mattered most. Though Lazarus suffered for a season, he was rewarded throughout eternity, never again to be neglected, overlooked, unseen, or passed over.

We should all be attentive to what we overlook, recognizing that God has placed it in our path. We may overlook someone known and loved by God, and to ignore them is to pass over Him. Let’s live a life with intention, making time to see as God sees others. Let’s be intentional about not just seeing what’s going on in our own backyards, but also beyond our gates.

Is there someone God has put in your path who could use encouragement or a helping hand? Who might you show the love of Jesus this week? Perhaps we should all pray for God to help us see beyond our gates and beyond what is just in our backyard. Let us explore ways to encourage others and make them feel seen and loved.