The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Devotion based on Numbers 6:26

According to a 2021 article in Psychology Today, feeling ignored may be more painful than we suppose. Individuals in a study indicated that being ignored often hurt more than even being in an argument.

Then again, perhaps this should not surprise us. To feel ignored, to feel excluded, to feel overlooked, to feel invisible—such a thing brings a quiet devastation. The ache it produces can be so heavy and profound that people may feel like a physical weight is pressing on their shoulders and chest.

And these terrible moments can show up anywhere. They can show up at work, at school, at social gatherings, among friends, or among family. They can even show up at church.

Indeed, you and I can be very good at ignoring each other. Sin does that. In the brokenness of our broken natures, I can ignore others, others can ignore me, and we can all ignore God. Left to ourselves, you and I would end up abandoned, isolated, alone, and in despair.

But your God has not ignored you. Instead, he has turned his face toward you. He saw you in your sin and darkness. He saw you in your self-imposed exile, isolation, and pain. And he chose to do something about it. Jesus came here. He became one of us. On our behalf, he ignored no one as he walked on this earth. In our place, he endured the worst kind of abandonment possible—an abandonment so absolute that his heavenly Father turned away from him as he bore our sins on the cross. And then he died.

And then he rose. And because he has, you will never need to feel ignored again. Ever. For the One who has promised never to leave you nor forsake you is the One who lives. The One who has promised to be with you always is the One who lives. And the One who has risen from the dead is the One who has turned his face toward you. And he will never turn away.

Prayer:

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