SEED 1 ~ Forgotten

“Your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
-Matthew 6:4

The Secret Seer
Only 8am and I already felt exhausted. I rolled over on my soft pillow and squinted— by eyes trying to focus on the bright sun-split sky that peeked through the slivers in the shades. Was it morning already?
I groaned and covered my face with a blanket. I felt spent. Energy totally depleted. Felt like I’d gotten in bed only moments ago.

Hmmmmm. I had.

The evening before we’d tucked the boys into their beds at their normal bedtimes. Everyone had fallen asleep soundly. I jumped into bed shortly after in hopes of a full night of rest. But that wouldn’t be. Jude, who was one year old at the time, awoke shortly after midnight. He belted out a scream that could have waked the neighborhood. I raced in to check on him but quickly found that there was nothing wrong. He was just . . .up.

Surely a few moments of rocking would put him at ease and back to sleep.

I rocked. I sang. I swayed. I patted. I purred. I rubbed. I paced.

Those moments turned to half-hours. Half hours turned into full ones, four to be exact. These were hours I didn’t care to visit. You know them, the wee ones—dark, quiet, still, lonely. I paced the floor, trying to keep the others from waking. Those were isolating, lonesome moments. No one patted me on the back for encouragement. No one cheered me on to the finish. No one
observed and applauded my faithful mothering.

Just me and him in the unseen, unnoticed midnight hours. We finally tumbled into bed together at 4am - baby tucked in the crook of my elbow.

Eventually, he dozed . . . eventually.

Unnoticed giving. Giving in secret. Expending extra time, extra energy, extra resources, extra emotional concern—essentially everything with little notice from others. It can all seem so unappreciated sometimes, can’t it? So unnoticed. So undervalued.

Yes, I know. It might have seemed so that forlorn night if God’s Spirit hadn’t had something to say about it.“Priscilla, I’m the Secret Seer,” He whispered just as I began to doze off. “The unnoticed gifts you give are in My full view, and I take pleasure in dispensing reward.”

What’s the secret gift you’ve been giving away?
Maybe you’ve not paced the floor in the wee hours with a wee one lately, but you’ve been giving, haven’t you? That final detail you made certain was finished, the financial gift you slid under the door, the prayer you lifted up for another, the want you sacrificed to meet someone else’s need. You’ve been the unnamed, secret
soldier who’s marched in and left footprints of love on the landscape of someone’s life.

Have you wondered if it’s worth it when you walk away and not one say’s “Thank you”? Have you questioned the energy it required when you come back home feeling a bit spent? Have you wanted to take it back when those invested hours seemed to yield little dividends?

I have good news for you, weary secret giver: There is a Secret Seer. Oh yes, Someone sees, and He is not a mere human whose accolades would dissipate as easily as the curling smoke that appears at the meeting of warm breath with cold air. This one gives grand, vast, and eternal gifts.

Take courage, secret soldier. He saw the good deed, the extended hand, the opened heart, the generous act that you thought had gone unnoted and unobserved.

That which you’ve depleted He will return - pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

In fact, it seems that knowing gifts like these are offered to secret givers should not only cause us to rest easy in what we’ve already done but to look for opportunities to do it again and again. Knowing the Secret Seer prompts us to give undercover. To share unnamed. To offer without notice.

Secret servants seem to have a special place in the heart of the Servant Savior.

If you feel unnoticed, unappreciated, and overlooked, just lift up your eyes, and your gaze will fall on the eyes of the Holy One. He is watching every opportunity you’ve grasped, every gift you’ve offered, every undisclosed detail you’ve set straight. He has taken note and promises a reward - one that surpasses mere human attention and applause - the only reward worth receiving anyway.

Discussion Questions:
Background Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 12:4-8

1. What kind of circumstances cause you to feel forgotten?
2. How do you react when you feel overlooked?
3. Where else in Scripture do you see the Lord showing that He cares for the “forgotten”?
4. What are some practical ways God’s care has encouraged you when you feel like a fifth sparrow?
5. Dig more into the context of Luke 12. In what personal ways do verses 20-30 speak to you about worry?
6. In what way have you overlooked someone lately? How can you be careful to cause this person to feel valued going forward?
7. You are valuable, but how do you show other people around you that they are valuable too?

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