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Hope for When You Feel Invisible

When we feel invisible the hope within us begins to fade.

Do you feel invisible? Maybe right now your world is so compicated you feel all alone. Like no one else understands and there you are. Invisible. Can I encourage you to believe there is hope? - Hope for When You Feel Invisible - Lori Schumaker

Our family is not unfamiliar with doctor’s appointments. Over the years it has become a way of life for us. But I remember when it was new,  both for us and for those in our circle of family and friends. I remember feeling lonely and invisible.

When she came home to us from her orphanage halfway around the world, everything was new for her. Her thoughts were controlled by fear and anxiety. The constant doctor’s appointments only increased that anxiety.

Imagine the waiting room with it’s anticipation of what was to come. Imagine it when appointments would run late. Anxiety would increase and the stress would mount.

The driving. Waiting. Paperwork.

The tough news. New treatment plans. Medications.

And the many dead ends.

Day after day.

Yes. Stressful.

And often lonely.

Lonely because there is something about the trials of life that create a divide in human connection. Each journey is remarkably unique and this makes it difficult to fully empathize with the reality of another. There is no fault assigned. It is simply a part of our human experience.

Lonely is always found in the hard places of life.

And in the lonely, we often feel invisible.

In the lonely, we often feel invisible.But there is hope.You are never invisible to the One who sees you. #hope #invisible #lonely Click To Tweet

I’m not sure where you are today and what you are dealing with.

A relationship falling apart.

A confusing friendship.

An unexpected or terrifying diagnosis.

Or maybe a heart wrenching loss.

Whatever it is, chances are you feel a bit invisible. As though no one sees you nor understands your pain.

Friend, can I offer you hope? A hope that is found in the hard places? In the invisible?

It’s a hope I’ve held onto myself in those seasons.

It’s the hope of the One who sees.

You see, when the rest of our world seems to have disappeared and we feel all alone, there is always One who remains. One who understands. One who sees us right in the middle of our loneliness.

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

It was a woman in a very confusing situation, named Hagar, who said this. She was the servant of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. For years, they had waited for children of their own.

Infertility is a difficult journey to walk, but in their situation, God had promised them she would bear Abraham’s child. Many years passed and Sarah believed she was beyond her childbearing years.

God’s promise lost its anchored truth and her faith faltered. She was desperate and just as we often do in our lives, she ran ahead of God.

With a desire to please her husband at the forefront of her mind, she took the situation into her own hands and brought her servant, Hagar, to her husband to conceive a child.

It worked and Hagar conceived Abraham’s son.

But just as it happens with us when we run ahead of God, so it happened to her. Their buy tamoxifen canada world began falling apart.

Sarah became resentful.

Hagar became boastful.

The situation became dreadful (as you can well imagine) and Sarah took her increasing resentment out on Hagar.

A pregnant, lonely, and confused Hagar ran away.

Can you imagine the stress? The confusion? The hurt? The loneliness? The feeling as though no one could possibly understand? Or know her heart?

She was a hurting Mother wondering what could be next? Shunned by society and worried about her son. Hurt, confused, and feeling unjustly treated. If anyone could understand loneliness, it would be Hagar.

But right in the middle of this loneliness, hope stepped in. A hope for her, but also a hope for us.

She was resting by a spring of water in the wilderness when an angel appeared to her. He told her three things.

1) Go home and submit to the authority of your mistress

2) You will be given uncountable descendants

3) The baby you are  carrying is a son and his name will be Ishmael which means “God hears”.

In that moment she saw the truth and she was filled with hope. She recognized the God who sees her. The God who cares for her and sees the depths of her pain.

For When You Are Feeling Invisible Genesis 16-13 - Lori Schumaker

She went back home facing her troubled situation with a renewed hope and faith, believing she would make it through to the happy days that would most certainly come again.

She knew that even when the world misunderstands her, there is One Who knows her.

Her truth gives us hope.

Do you feel invisible? Maybe right now your world is so compicated you feel all alone. Like no one else understands and there you are. Invisible. Can I encourage you to believe there is hope? - Hope for When You Feel Invisible - Lori Schumaker

For me, it meant that when the doctor appointments did not seem to have an end in sight and no one could promise healing for my daughter, God saw me in the middle of it all and understood every single emotion that pummeled my heart. He understood every thought racing through my mind.

He reminded me I was not invisible. It gave me strength to put the next foot in front of the other.

I pray that you, too, know that He sees you in the middle of right where you are. He knows your every thought. Your every feeling.

You are not invisible.

He is the God who sees you.

When we feel known and understood our hope thrives. But when we feel invisible our strength in facing the difficulties of tomorrow wears away. Looking to the One and only who says, “I see you”, combats the invisible.

It is our true source of hope. He is our true source of hope.

Friends, I have created a 5-Day Hope Toolkit to encourage and help you towards claiming the victory of a hope-filled life! If you would like to instill in yourself the habits of embracing hope in your day to day life, this toolkit is for you! Along with the daily Scriptures and prayers, I have included a beautiful printable list of Truth-filled “I am” statements to combat hopeless thinking, a list of my go-to resources, and an attitude inventory that will alert you to your life patterns and ways of thinking!

Looking for more encouragement? I regularly link up with these fabulous bloggers!

 

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24 Comments

  1. I love this story too! I am so glad our Father spoke to you through it, to show you He is there for you too in those hard times. This is a message a woman’s heart needs to hear, to be reminded of. Thanks, Lori for this breakdown of the Word.

    Your #LiveFreeThursday neighbor,
    Meghan Weyerbacher

    1. Thank you, Meghan ♥ I am thankful God has shown me He is there over and over again! Thank you so much for visiting!
      Blessings and smiles,
      Lori

  2. I do understand the aloneness , the isolation, the sometimes feeling forgotten. My son has schizophrenia and due to this condition does not like to be in groups – including his own family when we all get together. It is a struggle to balance my need for community and his need for solitude and also my husbands need for solitude . There are weeks when I do not leave my house except to go to church to sit in the nursery with my son and listen to the sermon , to leave again without hardly speaking to anyone except for the occasional, hi. That isolation is a gateway for the evil one to permeate my thought and let hopelessness and despair move int my soul and on hard days they linger close, but thankfully the Lord lingers closer and the psalms soothe and heal .

    1. Lord, I lift Debbie, her son, and her husband up to You. Your Word says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” -Isaiah 41:10. Lord I pray that Debbie fears not, for she knows You are with her. I pray that she not be dismayed because she knows You are her God. Lord, I ask you to strengthen Debbie, help her, and uphold her with Your righteous right hand. Lord I pray for healing, for hope, for joy to live within the hearts of this family. Knit time into Debbie’s schedule where she can find community. Provide help and respite for the care of her son. Lord we believe You are a God who sees and and God who loves beyond what we can imagine. In Your precious name I pray. Amen.

      Thank you, Debbie, for sharing transparently. I am honored to pray for you!

      Blessings and smiles,
      Lori

  3. So thankful God always sees! We are not invisible to Him, and He fills us with renewed hope when we need it the most. Beautiful post, Lori! Blessings, Tasha

  4. We have a God who sees! Amazing! Thank you for sharing this post. Blessings & peace to you.

    1. Thank you, Meggie, for the kind words and comment love!

  5. Thank you for this beautiful reminder! Blessings, Moira

    1. Thank you, Moira, for stopping by and joining the conversation!

  6. The God who sees me! I’ve always loved that too! Yes, I’ve felt alone and misunderstood. What a blessing to know the One who loves, sees, and understands. Thank you for this beautiful word of hope today! <3

    1. Knowing that there is someone in the trenches with us who understands really makes all the difference. It fulfills our desire to be known. Truly known, understood, and loved.
      Thank you, Deb, for your encouragement. I appreciate you so very much!
      Blessings and smiles,
      Lori

  7. Beautifully encouraging post.

    It is important to remember that Jesus understands our every weakness, as He experienced it all, but without stain of sin. We can approach the throne of Grace and He welcomes us and understands us, and most especially there is nowhere that we can go where God does not see us.

    Thanks for sharing.

    1. I am so glad you were encouraged here, Karen! And so true. At times the mess seems so big we think He can’t really join us there. And at other times, we choose to try to hide in shame. But there is nowhere God doesn’t see us. Nowhere He won’t join us reaching out a hand of comfort and understanding.

  8. I absolutely love this aspect of God’s character, Lori. The God who sees me sees everything about me, which means He knows me like nobody else ever could. There is so much comfort in that, as you clearly experienced during those earliest doctor appointments with your precious daughter. I’m so glad I stopped by today from Fresh Market Friday. 🙂

    1. Thank you, Lois! Fresh Market Friday with Crystal is a favorite hang-out of mine, too! Her heart and her ministry are beautiful! I’m so glad you made it over here for a visit, too:-)
      Blessings and smiles,
      Lori

  9. Lori, this is beautiful and “the God who sees” is one of my favorite ways of understanding God — and to think that he allowed Hagar, that unseen, unappreciated pawn in Sarah’s scheming assign a name to the God of the universe! Amazing!

    1. So true, Michele! He redeems our biggest mess-ups doesn’t He and allows us to play a big role in His plans. I hadn’t thought of it that way, so thank you! A perspective that just made me smile BIG!

  10. I am in that lonely place presently. And even though there are friends around to console me, listen if I need an ear, or wonderful inspiring posts, like this, Jesus and only He can really be there to understand the depths of this loneliness. You can’t tell everything for judgment comes, you spare the details because it is not your story to tell, yet the loss is great and I truly don’t know how those that don’t know Jesus survive through it.

    1. Michelle,
      My heart so aches for your situation and for the pain you are experiencing. Yes, God sees into every crevice of hurt within you. I am praying He fills you with His supernatural peace, my friend. If there is anything I can do or way of being an encouragement, please don’t hesitate.
      Much love,
      Lori

  11. Lori, I too know that hope found only in the One who sees! Different situations, of course, but I know the waiting and praying for answers, the countless doctor appointments, and more waiting and praying. We are still in the midst of it all. Thank you for your encouraging and uplifting post!

    1. Laura,
      I am so glad God encouraged you through these words and through our story. I’m sorry, though, that you are in a season of this kind of wait. It is overwhelming and lonely. I’m praying for you to never forget He sees you in the midst of it all!
      Blessings and smiles,
      Lori

  12. Lori, these are such beautiful and encouraging thoughts. I am so touched by God’s compassion for Hagaar, a servant who was obeying what was asked of her. He truly sees the lonely places that even we ourselves don’t fully understand! I’m your neighbor over at #TellHisStory this week. –Blessings to you!

  13. I’m often tempted to feel like I’m alone and marginalized in a certain relational situation that I’ve been in for years (and no, it is not my marriage that I’m talking about!). I think this is partly due to my own insecurities surfacing. But I also tend to feel like this “situation” actually “finds” me. If that makes sense. Perhaps that has more to do with God orchestrating the details of it so that I will learn to cling to Him, and as you’ve so eloquently said, Lord, know that He “sees” me. Thanks for this reminder, my friend. It was something I needed to hear and know today!