Oh, Regard Me – Sunday, January 04, 1981
To be considered important, of value, and wanted is one of the basic needs of the human soul. Yet, we’re so often just a part of the crowd. At a football stadium we join thousands of indistinguishable faces, we hurry down city streets where no one recognizes us, we receive letters addressed to “occupant.” It can make us wonder if our life has any distinct meaning to others. In fact, many experts think that many of our social problems stem from this human need gone astray, people searching for a way to say, “I’m important, I count for something, notice me.”
The truth of the matter is, we are all noticed more than we ever realize. We’re noticed by friends, family, colleagues—even strangers often take notice of and are affected by things we do. But even beyond the associations with our fellow man, there is a vast amount of love and concern from Him who loves us all. It should be comforting to each of us to know that the prayer of the poet, “Oh Regard Me, Lord. . .” from the music “Oh Divine Redeemer,” is answered even before it is uttered. For whether we feel praised and popular, or ignored and unknown, the Lord always regards us. To Him, our importance never dims.
Jonah, the Old Testament prophet, didn’t like one of the Lord’s commandments to him and tried to flee from His presence. He thought of God as only a local deity from whom he could hide.
Perhaps many of us also feel hidden from the Lord. Perhaps we believe, “Who am I that God should notice me?” When we remember that we are just one out of billions in the world, that perhaps our heavenward petitions must struggle for His attention, it strains our comprehension that we can be and are individually regarded by the Lord.
But we each must be assured that we are. That He does regard and love us. His attention is not focused on some cosmic mystery, but on our growth. His aim is our exaltation and eternal life. His love is not limited to humanity collectively, taken as a whole and undivided. It penetrates the individual drama of a single life, to our very personal and independent existence.
No, to those who know the Lord, we need not ever think we’re unwanted, unloved, or unneeded. His greatest concern is our individual well-being.
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January 04, 1981
Broadcast Number 2,681