You Are Not Invisible

I see you…

In the shadows of every silent cry. In the ache of every broken heart. In the pain of every erupting thought…

I see you…

With every labor of love. Every time you rise and sacrifice your wants. Every moment you sulk in the pain of it all…

I see you…

I see you as the world closes in. Every moment you feel crushing pain. Every attempt to numb and project, your weakness on someone else…

I see you…

I see the loss in your eyes. Every thing you have left behind. The moments that have passed. Every decision you have regretted.

I see you…

I see your cry for help. All the times you throw yourself into the forefront because what’s worse than death…

Is not being seen. Ignored. Forgotten.

I see you…

And yet, the world spins in its brokenness, aches for a Savior, squirms in its anguish…

Seeking a voice, a face, a redeemer amidst the loneliness that closes in. Blasting gongs of silence piercing every hollow soul.

As a result, thousands of years ago, He came.

Unseen. Unknown. Unpraised by most.

His faint voice, the moment he took his first breath, didn’t initially wake nations.

He had all authority, yet didn’t begin by shaking foundations.

He held all power, yet as he felt the pain of creation sting against his barren skin…

All He could do was cry.

And yet, even in His cry, where was the one to rescue Him; from the pain, or loss, or loneliness, or scorning?

Who picked up His cross, and carried it to Calvary?

Yet, there was one. Simon of Cyrene.

In His staggering footsteps, while a man was being called out from the crowd to carry His cross….God was making a way. (Matt. 27:42)

Simon, chosen to carry Jesus’ cross, wasn’t randomly selected by God. In fact, Simon’s name itself means, “Harken. Listening.”

God was listening. As Jesus stumbled through the crowds, a mocking spectacle, a scorn Savior….God was making a way.

Every blood-drenched step, His weary back, pounding chest, hoping for relief from the weight He bore from a crushing cross.

Every scuffle of his feet towards his certain death.

God saw. God was listening.

In the depths of Jesus’ most excruciating pain, God heard the silent cries of this man who spoke not and staggered with His cross, like a Lamb to the slaughter.

God not only heard. He whispered back to Jesus, through the man of Simon, assuring Him, “I am listening”.

The very name of the one who took Jesus weight, was the answer to His ache, an echo of a promise…

The same promise God gives to us in our failings, “I’m listening.”

God saw. God heard Jesus on Calvary.

In the hour of His crucifixion, Jesus cried up to heaven, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46)

The ultimate betrayal, to leave your one and only son hanging on a cross, aching and pleading.

Yet, God made a way. He saw. He heard. He had an answer even before the suffering came.

In the midst of the heartache, the earth shook. And just before bowing His head, Jesus said, “It is finished”. (John 19:30)

The purpose for every bruise, the freedom for every thorn, the loosing given to His people, for all of eternity, because of His suffering.

And yet, who was there? Only a few.

Who saw Jesus in His aching, in the longing of His heart for all creation? The giving of His last breathe, to deliver the entirety of all humanity?

Not the masses.

Not the saved or healed or set free, those delivered from leprosy or blind eyes that now could see.

Where were those Jesus had healed, touched, set free, prior to His crucifixion?

Where were those Jesus came and helped? Had they all betrayed Him?

Jesus was alone, minus a few.

Alone on a cross.

Alone in a manger.

The beginning and the end started and concluded with one sole Savior, coming to die, resurrecting, to bring us His peace.

And I wonder today, how many think this life means ease? Burden-less walking? Perfection and personal praises?

Didn’t the son of God himself suffer, yet in His suffering, partner with His greatest triumph? Didn’t His aching loss birth His greatest gift and blessing?

And what if, in this hour of unseen service, lonely burdens, aching wanderings, questioning uncertainties…

You and I have a Simon of Cyrene waiting, waiting in the shadows for when we might stumble? A promise from God through our own journeys? When our paths to Calvary feel weak and weary.

Yet, that Savior isn’t a man, but a Messiah, named Jesus. A God who came in the flesh and took the weight of everything we have been carrying.

His very name means, “Listening”.

“I am listening”, He promises.

“I see you”.

I see you in the shadows of the morning sun, in the darkest of night, in your stumbling and wanderings, carrying a cross that feels too heavy to hold.

He is ready to take the weight you bare; take your yoke, your burdens, everything that weighs you down and makes you feel like you just can’t go on.

1 Peter 2:21 tells us, “Because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

“Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)

If Jesus suffered, so will we.

Yet, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

We are not alone. He sees. He hears. And He opened heaven, when we need Him most…

To make a way for you and me.

He shed His blood, so we can live. He carries our load, so we might be free from the weight of pain, sickness and death.

Oh, that you and I might run to His throne room of grace. Bow our knees to a Savior who came in a manger and identified with our loss and grieving.

He felt the weight of giving His life unto service for us.

He is our way.

The curtain split. His tomb empty…

And we have nothing to fear.

A path is made. An exist plan prepared. A God who loves and sees us is near.

Yes, He is near. He sees us.

And He is listening.