Daily devotional, 20 August 2024
Seen Zone
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."
1 Peter 5:10
In this digital age, snobbing has taken a whole new level. ‘Seen Zone,” which can be described as digital snobbing, is found by many to be as offensive as ignoring someone who is talking to you. When a message is “seen-zoned,” it could mean that the recipient was too busy to respond, handed over his phone to a kid who apparently opened the message, or plainly just ignored what the sender had to say. Sadly, “ignored” is usually how the sender feels whenever he is seen-zoned.
As followers of Jesus, we are more than blessed to not be in this ignored zone, ever. This is simply because we have a God that sees everything, and hears everything, especially those who love and follow Him.
"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,"
Psalm 33:18
In one of His most endearing Psalms, King David praised the Lord for constantly seeing Him through. For loving Him even before he was born.
"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways."
Psalm 139:1-3
And while some people may feel that watchful eyes are oppressive, it is clearly not so for the righteous. Only those doing wicked deeds and do not want to be called out and seen, are those who wish to turn off the watching eyes of authorities like parents, bosses, and people in leadership places. For a child who is constantly dependent on a parent for everything, most especially for their needs and security, the watchful eye is a safety net that assures them of love and protection.
"For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes." Jeremiah 16:17
Such wonderful knowledge, as King David said, is something we have to appreciate. We have to open our eyes to the truth that our Heavenly Father wants only the best for us hence He watches out for us. He hears us when we call to Him in truth, and He helps us to endure inevitable troubles in our earthly existence.
"The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry."
Psalm 34:15
One of God’s names is Adonai El Roi, or the “God who sees.” We read about this name of God in the story of Hagar, the slave girl who bore Abraham’s first son, Ishmael. As she ran through the wilderness to escape Abraham’s wife, Sarai, God saw her flee. God told her what to do and even gave her a promise that He will multiply her offspring.
"So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.'"
Genesis 16:13
So you see, even in the midst of our brokenness, even if we hide ourselves in the darkest place we can crawl into, God will still see us, and will have a heart to reach out to us. We should appreciate Him like Hagar did, for watching over us and our affairs. Not to stifle us of course, but to ensure that we will be well. Let us be thankful and reach out to Him.
If you feel like you are being seen zoned by God, it is time to reflect on your prayers and your life. Are the prayers you want Him to answer are in accordance with His will and will not contradict His teachings? Is your life in order, and are you living a life of obedience to the Lord? Is the Lord present in your everyday life? Or is your relationship with Him much like a one-way street in favor of you alone?
God will never put our prayers in a seen zone. He actually knows what we need even before we ask Him. However, He wants us to learn to be constantly dependent on Him. And this is not because He needs us to, but because we need to be like that to live the best life He has planned for us.
In this world, we will just be disappointed and frustrated when we depend on fellow humans, because like us, they are also bound to fail. But when our trust and security is in God, and we use His teachings as our moral compass, we can negotiate even the trickiest of streets, the muddiest of trails, and the roughest of roads. This is because when we have God in our hearts, we will never be alone.
Apart from Him being all-powerful, our God is always present, and that is what we have to pray for every single day. We have to pray so that we could be conscious of His presence in our lives, and that we walk with Him as we journey through this earth.
All this we can do when we prioritize spending time with Him in prayer, reading and reflecting on His words everyday, worshipping and seeking Him along with other believers, and living a life of gratitude and obedience.
God promises to see us through every second of our life, and we can claim this great promise of His, by making sure we are always by His feet.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Genesis 16 and Psalm 139 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Have you ever felt being seen zoned by God? What did you do then?
Conversation with the Lord: _ Heavenly Father thank you for watching over us always, even if at times we do not appreciate it. Help me value your presence in my life always, and give me the strength to consistently live a life of worship and obedience to you. I love you Lord. Amen.
