Day 40: God Sees Me

Thank You, God, for seeing me.

Today is Palm Sunday. I never quite know what to make of it. Is this how Easter should begin—with a parade of palm branches and joyful shouts? When Jesus shows up, should we not worship and surrender to His Lordship? Or is Palm Sunday teaching us something deeper—something more unsettling—about the complexity of our sinful nature and what it really means to believe in and follow Christ?

This morning at church, I reflected aloud that Palm Sunday begins as a celebration, but it shifts. The celebration is disrupted by seeds of doubt, by misinformation that takes root in the hearts of the crowd. It doesn’t sound like something to be thankful for. And yet… I am. Because even then, even now, You—O God—see us. You see me.

This is made perfectly clear to me in Jesus weeping in Luke’s account of Palm Sunday. The prayer sounds like a prayer to and for Jerusalem—but isn’t it really a prayer for anyone who gets lost trying to follow God?

In the swirl of doubt, when voices close to me cause me to second-guess the path I thought You laid before me… You still see me. You still know me.

I’d like to say that if Palm Sunday happened today, it would turn out differently. But I’m not sure it would. There is still doubt. There is still misinformation. There are still people who claim to speak for You, God, with “correctness,” yet speak only their own agendas. And in that, I think we miss the point.

You, God, are not asking for our performance. You are asking to be our God—here, now, and eternally. You are calling us to love You and to love our neighbors. Even in the midst of the noise, You continue to see us. And that is enough.

Today, I grieve the breakdown of love—especially from those in power, from those in the Church, from those who should lead with grace. I don’t have all the answers. But I know this: the answer begins with letting You be in control, and as we do, choosing to love one another well.

So today, I give thanks that You see me.

When the world is loud, and others speak over me or falsely speak for me… You still see me. You prepare the way before me—through Jesus, through Holy Week, through the cross and the empty tomb.

Thank You, God, for seeing me. That is more than enough.

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Following is our Musical Devotion from The Global Board of Discipleship:

“You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen

We have arrived at Holy Week. We followed Jesus into Jerusalem amidst joyful multitudes who hailed him as a king, yet we know Friday is coming. The triumphant multitudes will not stick around long. Yet, God’s steadfast love never fails. So, as we move into this holiest of weeks, listen to “You Will Be Found” from the musical Dear Evan Hansen and consider: “How does God’s steadfast love find you, even when you feel lost?”