Being Seen

Lately, I've been watching What not to Wear while I eat lunch.  I enjoy watching how the hosts help the contributors realize their potential.  They help them to accept who and where they are in life and to dress the body they have, not the body they wish they had.  It's fun to see not only the physical transformation, but the emotional one as well. 

The contributors vary in age, gender, ethnicity, life experiences, family situations, employment, etc.  But I am struck by a recurring theme for many of the female contributors... wanting to be invisible and unknown.  They are so afraid of rejection or so used to it that they think being invisible is a better alternative.  So they either fade into the back ground or dress in a way to garner attention, but still remain anonymous.  How sad.  Yet, it's become a way of life for many women.  And it's a lonely place to be.  I know; I've been there.

Like most women, I long to be seen, to be known, and be loved.  Yet, my fear of rejection kept me from letting anyone see the real me for many years. I was so sure that if people really knew me, the good, the bad, and the ugly, that they would pull away or condemn.  So I hid.  I made sure I didn't stand out.  I tried to do the right things, say the right things, and be what others wanted me to be.  As I lived trying to be unknown, I found myself withdrawing and isolating.  I convinced myself that I didn't have real value.  I was sure that in the end no one would miss me.  Besides, how can you miss someone you don't really know?  But God...

But God stepped in and showed me the truth; God does see me.  He knows me fully.  It was He who created me; formed me in my mother's womb.  He knows the number of hairs on my head.  He knows the good, the bad, and the ugly. He knows where I've been and what I've done.  And yet, get this, He loves me....deeply and unconditionally.  There's no need for me to shrink into the shadows and hide.  I am fully known and loved by God.  And so are you!  Let these truths settle in and take root in your heart.  Let yourself be seen.  Venture out and be who you were created to be.  And know your courage just might give others the boldness to step out of the shadows, too....