Reflection Questions:
Sample Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for seeing me completely—my heart, my struggles, my hopes—and loving me just the same. Help me to see others as You do, beyond appearances and assumptions, with grace and compassion. Teach me to slow down, to listen, and to recognize the value in every person I encounter. May my heart reflect Yours as I seek to love and serve those around me. Amen
Friends, this is Pastor Chuck Allen and I want to thank you for joining me on another episode of what Only God Can Do. On the Weekday Podcast. Today I want to talk about From Being Seen to Seeing Others. You know, one of the things that we love is that when people fully see us, One of the things that others love is that when we fully see them.
Today on what Only God Can Do, a podcast where we explore the extraordinary way God works in our ordinary lives, I want to give you this thought. I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be truly seen and how that changes the way we see other people. We've talked about how God sees our hearts completely beyond appearances, beyond our careful curated Personas, right to the core of who we are. But today, let's shift gears a little bit and talk about how that profound truth should transform the way we see each other. There's this quote from Ruth Bell Graham that I love. She says we're all just beggars telling other beggars we're to find bread. And that captures kind of something essential about our shared humanity. No matter our status or achievements or appearance or education, we're all equally in need of God's grace.
As you look and kind of do a little study on shame, vulnerability, and connection. One of the things that I believe to be true is that one of the greatest barriers to genuine community is our tendency to sort, categorize and judge one another based on surface level information. We create hierarchies of worthiness that determine who deserves our attention, our compassion, and our respect. But Jesus. Jesus kind of writes the script for us. I mean, he modeled a radically different way of seeing other people. In Luke 5, we read about the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him through the roof, right? I mean, the text said some men came carrying this man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside. They couldn't get in, so they lowered him through the roof. And then Jesus says, this young man, sins are forgiven. Now what strikes us about this passage, and this is the third time I've referenced it this week, is how Jesus saw beyond the obvious need. The obvious need is he needs to walk, but he had a deeper spiritual need. Sometimes I think we don't recognize that all of us, beginning with ourselves, our family, those around us, we all have deeper needs beyond the ones we see. And we're always carrying something that nobody else knows about. I had this experience several years ago that really changed how I see folks. I was rushing through the airport here in Atlanta, late for a flight, of course, when I bumped into an older dude walking slowly with a cane. I mean, I gotta be honest, I was. I was frustrated. It was like, come on, man, I had places to be.
But something, I don't know why, it just made me pause. I actually looked the guide, not just see him as an obstacle, but really see him. And I noticed the military pins on his jacket.
I saw the wedding ring that had been worn thin from decades of marriage. I saw kind of a kind and gentle dignity in his eyes.
Now, I did miss my flight, but I did help him to the gate. And on that walk, he told me stories about what it was like serving in Vietnam, about losing friends because I'd lost my flight and his was late. We sat there and chatted. We had a cup of coffee. And he started telling me about his wife of 52 years who recently passed away, and how he was flying to meet his first great grandkid in California.
In those maybe 20 minutes or more, he went from being an obstacle to being a dude with a rich, complex life story. And all because I bumped into him and originally saw an obstacle and a distraction and a problem to becoming something that was so much beyond the surface. Which reminds me when you read again in 1st Samuel 16, the Lord doesn't see things the way we do. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. I wonder what would change in our country, in our communities, in our church, maybe at our dinner tables, if we tried to see people more like God sees them looking past appearances, to the hearts that really matter. When Jesus looked at people, he. He didn't see categories or labels. He didn't see tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers or Pharisees. He saw folks with hearts longing for connection, for purpose, for healing, for belonging. There's a profound verse in 2nd Corinthians 5 from the New Living, where Paul says, so we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of.
At one time, we thought of Christ merely from a human point. How differently we know Him. Now Paul's describing a radical shift in perception from a human point of view, judging by appearance, status, or behavior, and instead begin to see them as God sees them as bearers of his image and hearts of immeasurable value. But friends, the shift doesn't happen overnight. I mean, it's not like we say yes to Jesus and all of a sudden this is easy. Think about someone in your life who's just difficult to love. We've all got them. I mean, somebody who just irritates you or challenges you or you just simply don't get them. What if you prayed for God's heart vision for that person? You know, I found that when I'm struggling with someone, asking the simple question can be super transformative. God, what do you see when you look at them that's interesting.
Sometimes I think it's just okay for us to take up that challenge. God, what do you see? What would it look like for you to practice heart vision this week? How might it change your relationship with your spouse or your kids if you look past annoying habits to see the heart behind them? How might it transform your parenting if you saw your teenager's attitude to the insecurity or fear that might be driving it?
What might it do to affect your workplace if you viewed difficult colleagues as people with stories and struggles you don't fully know?
Brene Brown, one of my favorite authors, says, the connection is why we're here. But true connection, friend, is only possible when we move beyond surface judgments to genuinely seeing the paralyzed man. In Luke 5, he experienced physical healing, but more importantly, he experienced being truly seen, and that changed everything. I pray we'd be the kind of people that would see others as Jesus sees them. I pray I would be that person. And may we remember that in a world of surface judgments and shallow evaluations, we're all seen and deeply loved by the God who created us. I'm Pastor Chuck, and thank you for joining me today on what Only God Can Do. Until next time, friends, go in peace.
