“Please make me invisible” I prayed.
The flattery lavished on me by those who had heard my singing had gone straight to my head.
“You were awesome!!” They said.
“Hey, yeah! I AM awesome!” I thought. I’d always wanted it to be true…
It didn’t take long for reality to bring me right back down to earth. Pride goes before a fall, as they say. And the fall always hurts. Before too long, I became petty, judgmental, and harsh.
“God, I’m sorry. I obviously can’t handle being noticed, so please just make me invisible.”
That very week my wish was granted...
I was asked to facilitate a ladies’ Bible study in the leader’s absence that week. We read a chapter and discussed it over coffee and brownies. The next week, the facilitator read through that same chapter again, and we discussed it. Again. The kicker? No one noticed!!
Hello?? Don’t you remember doing this last week?? I already did this with you!!
Invisibility, I discovered, hurts.
Days later, I was one of several back-up singers for Sunday worship. Afterward,a friend – someone who knows me and recognizes my face – said, “Did you SEE the worship team on Sunday?? They were AWESOME!!”
Are you kidding me??
I was most decidedly invisible. And it has continued to this day, nearly ten years later.
My friend would say to me, “I wish I had friends.”
My blogging would garner little readership.
I was a stay-at-home mom for ten years.
I volunteered in thankless, unglamorous, or behind-the-scenes roles, (When people ask, and I tell them where I volunteer, their response is of decided underwhelm).
Even much of my income is the result of ghost-writing and editing. (Does it get more invisible than ghost-writing?)
My prayer was answered. Thanks, God. I guess.
Being overlooked and unseen is not fun, but it has been a gift.
Pride feeds on praise. It wants to be the best. Pride sits on a throne and sneers down at everything beneath it. It’s an ugly little monster.
The solution? Starve it. Starve pride of the praise it craves, and it will begin to shrivel.
It won’t go quietly into the night though– it’ll stand up and demand attention. It will scream and whine and throw a super-sized tantrum on the floor. But eventually, it will weaken. And tire. And crumple in an exhausted heap, wishing it could sit on that throne again.
But be careful.
Even taking a moment to celebrate your newfound level of humility can revive the beast.
The best way to keep pride off its throne is to fill the throne with the only one who deserves praise, and that is Jesus. The one, by the way, who always notices you.
Invisible as you may feel, you are never, ever unnoticed.
Have you ever been super annoyed by being overlooked?
How was it a positive thing?
.
Hello?? Don’t you remember doing this last week?? I already did this with you!!
Invisibility, I discovered, hurts.
Days later, I was one of several back-up singers for Sunday worship. Afterward,a friend – someone who knows me and recognizes my face – said, “Did you SEE the worship team on Sunday?? They were AWESOME!!”
Are you kidding me??
I was most decidedly invisible. And it has continued to this day, nearly ten years later.
My friend would say to me, “I wish I had friends.”
My blogging would garner little readership.
I was a stay-at-home mom for ten years.
I volunteered in thankless, unglamorous, or behind-the-scenes roles, (When people ask, and I tell them where I volunteer, their response is of decided underwhelm).
Even much of my income is the result of ghost-writing and editing. (Does it get more invisible than ghost-writing?)
My prayer was answered. Thanks, God. I guess.
Being overlooked and unseen is not fun, but it has been a gift.
Pride feeds on praise. It wants to be the best. Pride sits on a throne and sneers down at everything beneath it. It’s an ugly little monster.
The solution? Starve it. Starve pride of the praise it craves, and it will begin to shrivel.
It won’t go quietly into the night though– it’ll stand up and demand attention. It will scream and whine and throw a super-sized tantrum on the floor. But eventually, it will weaken. And tire. And crumple in an exhausted heap, wishing it could sit on that throne again.
But be careful.
Even taking a moment to celebrate your newfound level of humility can revive the beast.
The best way to keep pride off its throne is to fill the throne with the only one who deserves praise, and that is Jesus. The one, by the way, who always notices you.
Invisible as you may feel, you are never, ever unnoticed.
Have you ever been super annoyed by being overlooked?
How was it a positive thing?
.
