Am I Significant
Oh, to be noticed.
It’s Thursday night—probably Friday morning by the time you read this post. I was just sitting by the fire and thinking backward when it occurred to me that I should let you know what’s on my mind.
I fought a brutal battle against feeling insignificant for years. It culminated on another cold night a few years ago while I was sitting on a curb, in my neighborhood, with my dog. It’s a story for another day, but I came to realize that evening that I was significant because my Heavenly Father chooses to spend time with me.
The victory came from space. Not outer space, but realizing that since no one else—not the dog that was sitting between my legs, nor my wonderful wife with whom I sleep—can occupy the same time and space that I do. I’m singular. These can be close, but they can’t be completely or entirely integrated into me or where I am.
Therefore, no one occupies the same place in time and space that I do… except for my Father, who lives in me. This makes me significant. Singular. Important. Noticed and valuable by virtue of the fact that God spends time alone with me.
He could be anywhere. Everywhere. And He is. But most importantly, He is in me, where I am, all the time, and no one else is there—nor can they be—and that makes me singularly significant.
Significance and recognition—the subject of my thoughts this cold night—are not synonyms.
Father God resolves my need to be significant by connecting with me, and with me alone, in my space and time and place.
But recognition is different. Of course, God recognizes as appropriate, e.g. “Well done, good and faithful servant,” but I believe He intends for those around us to play a part in our recognition.
Knowing you are significant is essential.
Herein is the problem we each face.
God is dependable and absolutely faithful—and I wish the same could be said for me. But I am human, fatally flawed, and undependable.
Knowing that you are significant is essential. Being recognized is not. Thus, God supplies significance while your recognition comes from others.
Get it right, it’s good.
When humanity is introduced into your equation, you should expect disappointment.
You need to be recognized. To be sure, you won’t die without it, but you will suffer without it.
Analogously, you need to be touched, but as an adult you won’t die without it. Like your need to be touched, you need to be recognized, and while Father is sufficient to carry you forward with/without touch, He is sufficient to carry you forward with/without recognition.
As I take inventory on this chilly night, I believe these words I’ve written to you. I believe Father’s pledge of supply for my essential needs. So, I’m OK in the long run. But I feel vulnerable sitting by my fire. It’s the old contrast between “I am” and “I feel.”
It’s tricky to manage this battle against recognition—to be noticed. Recognition is not as cleanly defined as significance.
It comes down to what a friend of mine calls “keeping your own counsel.” From my experience, keeping my own counsel is like balancing the ingredients in a complex recipe. Get it right, it’s good. Get it wrong, you feed it to Fred (that’s our garbage disposal’s name). Fred lives large at our house.
There are those aspects of life that Father deems so important that He singularly takes care of them, e.g. significance. There are those aspects of life that Father partners with us to achieve, e.g. recognition. In this instance, keeping my own counsel means that the labor to distinguish between significance and recognition is meaningful work both spiritually and for life in general.
Now, on another front…
Here’s some important news: In 1981 Anabel and I wrote a booklet titled, A Study of the Mind. Over forty years later, the booklet has enjoyed multiple print runs and a distribution of around 400,000 copies. But it was in bad need of an update—and that has occurred.
The original words remain, but I updated, added content, changed the format, and I am happy to let you know that Mastering the Battle for the Mind is available in both e-book and print. Here’s a link.
Of course, you know the drill by now: Given our banishment by the tech gods and governmental agencies, Lifetime-PHG is totally dependent on you to let others know this resource exists—that Lifetime-PHG exists, for that matter. After you’ve read this new resource, please tell others, and if you need multiple copies, let me know.
And now, heavenly Father: I give this resource to you. May you cause your message to flourish through this small book, Mastering the Battle for the Mind. In Jesus’ name, Amen!