Missing Out - Encouragement Café - August 22

Missing Out
 By Dawn Mast 

...For whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye. Zechariah 2:8b NIV

Monday is trash day in our neighborhood. Almost as soon as the sun comes up, you can hear the trucks making their way up each street, hoisting full cans over the dumpster truck, then plopping the empty containers back on the driveways. Over and over until all the cans in the neighborhood are empty.

It seemed fitting that I was walking around the block early in the morning on trash day. The trucks hadn’t made their rounds yet, but I was already pounding the pavement. My thoughts were swirling and

I was fuming mad because once again I was feeling angry about a situation that had cropped up that was completely out of my control. My emotions were hot and I was stomping up and down the street. At least I was burning calories!

By the time I reached the end of the first block I was able to at least talk to God about the way I was feeling. He knew, and I knew that He knew, but I had a hard time finding the words.

“God, I feel so mad! It’s happened again! This ridiculous situation that keeps binding me up and has me feeling like I’m not respected or heard. Lord, aren’t You mad about this enough to do something?! Don’t You see how they are treating me and want it to stop?”

Then His quiet words to my heart stopped my stomping.

I’m sad for them because they are missing out on you. Because they aren’t treating you well, they aren’t getting to be with wonderful you. They are missing out.

Oh. Well, I hadn’t thought of it that way. In my hurt and anger I was pushing away and people were missing out on me.

It doesn’t sound humble, but we need to understand that God sees us as His treasure. The apple of His eye. Zechariah 2:8 extends that promise to us when it says, “...for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye.”

The pupil of the eye shows reflection of the other person (the person being viewed) and the pupil feels pain and needs protection. The Lord loves to protect us! He doesn’t want others to miss out on the gifts that we have to offer them.

It may have been neighborhood trash day, but I was able to let go of some heavy garbage in my heart that day. Knowing that God saw me as valuable, honored and worthy gave me hope. When the God of the universe lets you know that others are missing out on wonderful you because of mistreatment, then you can rest assured that you are someone special to SomeONE special. He cares about how we are treated and He won’t let us down.

When you’ve been hurt or mistreated it’s sometimes hard to just let it go. It’s good to remember that God cares deeply for you and sees everything that happens to you. Nothing escapes His notice! He absolutely is sad because He enjoys our company so much that it grieves Him when others don’t want to be with us as much as He does.

Spending time telling Him your hurts and your desires about a painful situation is so helpful. Let Him help you with your deepest pain and He will lead you to healing.

Father God, It’s really hard for me to let go of the hurts that have been done to me. But, when I remember that You see everything that happens in my life and You care for me more than the birds of the air (Luke 12:24 NIV) I know that You care more than I could imagine. Thank You for the reminder that You love me and know just what I need. Help me as I use my gifts to honor You and be a witness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen! 

© 2018 by Dawn Mast.  All rights reserved.

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