What should be done to get rid of this struggle within our souls for significance and recognition? The realistic approach is to face this head-on. It seems so ridiculous but to ignore or avoid it is just as ridiculous. The monster that we fear always hides under our bed. The demon that we dread always hides in our shadow. This unwelcome intrusion into our consciousness must be encountered with the presence of Christ.
When the deep darkness of our lonely struggle seems to overwhelm, the light of Christ shines ever brighter. Though we do not see or even feel His light but it shines in our rejection. We may want to control the intensity of that light and make it brighter for us to experience but the gentle hands of Christ guide our hands away from the control. He will shine accordingly and He will flood our life. His light is not to blind our rage and screen our fear. His light is to expose these and then replace them forever. He says, "Peace be with you, my child and rest well in my sweet embrace". When we learn to let go of ourselves to Him, we inadvertently let go of our misery too.
Long time ago, He had already seen our needs and that was why through the Holy Spirit, He placed this loving voice in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest".
The Lord understands us so thoroughly that He placed promises in His ancient manuscripts to assure us that long before we feel the rejection, He had provided the answer.
"Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me." (Psalm 27:10).
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" (Isaiah 49:15).
Look at a very insignificant man, Blind Bartimaeus, who was rejected by society and struggled alone in his blindness and poverty. Are we in a worse condition than he was?
Handicapped and totally rejected - even his cry for help was rejected by the people around him. They told him to shut up but the poor man had been silent for a very long time.
For years, he feebly voiced for a few small coins so as to put some food into his hungry stomach.
For years, he was pushed around and even abused when he accidentally blocked the way of some important people.
For years, he walked to his little corner in the whole wide world and sat alone in the sun, hoping for a kind soul to drop some spare change.
For years, he felt that he was a nuisance and contributed nothing to society.
In the midst of his misery, his alert ears had picked up many rumours from passersby about a miracle-making prophet, Jesus. Then the moment that changed his future suddenly appeared.
The crowd was shouting that the miracle man was passing by. That was when this beggar decided that enough was enough. He refused to be silent anymore and began shouting - making a desperate plea for his miracle, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Mark 10:47). In that momentous encounter, the loving words of Jesus took away the scale that covered this man's eyes and soul. He was significant after all. Who had such a privilege to be heard by the mighty Creator of the universe? His eyes were opened and the first person he saw was his benefactor - Jesus. He then followed Jesus along the road (Mark 10:52).
The Light passed by Jericho that day and it was a blind beggar who caught that Light.
In our struggle for significance, we have few choices. We can wallow in the mud of our misery and allow the weight of this immense burden to squeeze the spiritual life out of us or we can look for the Light. We can search high and low in all the wrong places and wrong people for our significance or we can catch the Light. Today, thankfully the Light is not passing by because He is here to stay. We are allowed to cry to Him but we are not allowed to keep crying as though He is never here with us.
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20).
When He holds us in His gaze and reaches to heal, we should bow and be quiet. Even inside of us, the tumultuous storm rages, but we have to be patient for that loud voice of authority. "Peace, be still" will soon echo over our inner trepidation. The miracle will happen in the midst of our silent struggle.
His peace is an overwhelming peace! Our inner healing will begin in the peace or 'shalom' of Christ. Instead of embracing our pain, we now can embrace the Healer of our pain. Instead of looking for temporal comforters, we have been promised the Holy Spirit who is our everlasting Comforter (John 14:26). The world cannot reject us because we do not belong to it. We belong to the most high God - the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Father in heaven, I pray for my friend who is reading this article to feel your love. I pray that he or she will experience you in such a personal way. Even though my friend may feel loneliness and insignificant in many ways, but I know that you will speak to his or her heart right now. Thank you, Lord, for loving my friend and letting him or her know that he or she is forever special to you. In the name of Jesus, I commit this friend unto your hands. May he or she experience that deep healing and love that you now have for him or her. Amen.
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