Have you ever felt insignificant?
Perhaps it’s something someone said to you, the way they looked at you, or the fact that they didn’t even look at you. Have you ever felt insignificant? And if so, how did you deal with it? How do you deal with it?
When I looked up the synonyms for this word, I felt something drop in my stomach. Words like unimportant, of little consequence, not worth mentioning, meager, pointless and irrelevant.
These words triggered memories from the past like not making the basketball team in Junior High, or what my art teacher said about a project that I had worked hard on. Other moments came to mind as well, like studying and working so hard and long on something without getting the grade or results to show for it, as well as everything I felt when I was let go from my job.
How about you? Have you ever felt the same way?
One of the major reasons we often deal with feelings of insignificance has to do with being noticed—or rather, not being noticed. So, because you didn’t get the recognition you thought you deserved, you felt insignificant. Or because your loved one didn’t notice all of the work that you did behind the scenes, you felt insignificant. And so on and so forth.
But when you read through the Scriptures, one of the common themes that come up over and over again is the fact that God sees! In fact, one of God’s names in the Old Testament is El Roi, which is translated as the God who sees. He saw Hagar when she was being mistreated (Genesis 16). He saw Nathanael when he was under the fig tree (John 1:48). And he sees you and he sees me.
Just take a moment and slowly read through Psalm 139:1-18 to see how God sees you—even and especially when you feel unseen and insignificant.
“Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, Lord. You have encircled me; you have placed your hand on me. This wondrous knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it. Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night”— even the darkness is not dark to you. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to you. For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:1-18 CSB)
Imagine what your life would look like if you lived in the knowledge of this truth? Would you still be living to please man? To please your dad? Your boss? Those in authority over you? Or would you instead be living to please God, knowing that He is over and above everyone and everything in your life?
Friends, we are never out of the loving sight and oversight of our God, so instead of living for the praise and recognition of others—and then dealing with feelings of insignificance when you don’t get it—may we live in the knowledge that we worship a God who sees us.
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