All the Pieces of You

 

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

Psalm 139:1

Jesus sees me fully.

The woman sitting on the floor in the train station is hungry. Or is she a swindler? Her dogs look fat and happy even as she intones her blessings on passersby and asks for euros to fill their water bowl. Maybe she is going without so they can survive.

The boy who struggles up the stairs with two suitcases is in a panic, his glasses askew and face crinkled as the train whistles its warning. Where are his parents?

Behind her perfect hair and makeup, the girl on the corner with the silver high heels is scared.

The man sitting beside me on the bus is humming a chant. Is he praying? I wonder if he is homesick for a place far from here. Are we using different words, but feeling the same way?

I walk on the same streets they do. What part of me do they see?

We see each other in scraps. Author Malcolm Gladwell says that in the blink of an eye we sum each other up, draw conclusions, make decisions, judge what we see. 

In an instant. In pieces.

Humans, made in God’s image, created with love and value, made to walk in fellowship with God and each other, are summed up, dismissed, and abandoned to flash opinion.

Thank You, God, that You do not judge me in part.

In a world raging and shouting, protesting and weeping, begging and demanding, we need someone who sees us. Someone who sees with kindness, patience, humility, mercy. 

God sees us. He has searched us and known us. 

We need God's help to see each other. You never know what someone else is going through. The part you see might only be the sharp, broken snippet of pain and loss. Who knows? #mercy Share on X

God knows, and He loves us completely.

I need to be seen for more than my fragmented, jagged pieces. There is a soul deep inside of me that shyly hides from the crowds, timidly shrinking back to the shadows, alarmed by the riot. If you run past me, you’ll miss me.

I run past you too often, friend. 

Jesus never did this, and I want to be more like Him. He saw you and me and all our parts before He formed us in our mothers’ wombs. He saw all of us and declared us wonderful.

That is a love we need today.

All the pieces of you are seen and known by the One who made you. And He made no blink decision, no dismissive summation of you. 

With resolute intention, God made it His life’s purpose to chase you down with His all-consuming love. A love so fierce that our darkest places couldn’t keep Him away.

So bring all the parts of you today and be consumed by a love that calls you wonderful. Then hit the streets and marvel at your new ability to see others past the bits and pieces.

Dear Lord, help me see others past their bits and pieces. And use me to show them how much they matter to You. Amen.

@audreycfrank

Photo by Marianna Smiley on Unsplash