When You Feel Overlooked

Recently, I ventured into my teenager’s closet and discovered that none of his shirts were hung up. Instead, they were draped in one pile over the bottom rung. Admittedly, I had charged him with laundry duty a few years ago and never looked back, so who knows when this habit took root.

I prepared my what-in-the-world-are-you-doing-with-your-shirts speech while politely summoning his presence. He took one look at the pile and quickly preempted my lecture with:  “I did that deliberately.”

He proceeded to explain that the shirts were put in order of when he would wear them. The shirt on top was tomorrow’s selection and so forth down the pile. I was struck by his efficiency, knowing it takes more time to be that organized than to just hang up his shirts! Though I didn’t approve of the look, I couldn’t refute the method. Being deliberate won me over.

When we think of Jesus, words like loving, compassionate, and wise come to mind. But have you considered how He is also deliberate? After His death and resurrection, we catch a glimpse of this characteristic and how much it regularly applies to our lives.

Jesus doesn’t miss the details of your life. Nothing about you is overlooked or insignificant.

In John 20, after hearing of the empty tomb, “Simon Peter came and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself” (v. 6-7).

Did you catch that? The face cloth was folded up and set to the side! Why did Jesus take the time to do that? If I awoke in a cold, dark cave, having just experienced a horrific death, I would want out. Immediately. I would shed the linen and hit the road, gasping for fresh air and desperate to show everyone I was alive again. I might even come out shouting.   

But it wasn’t me in the tomb that day.

It was the Son of God. The Creator. The Holy One.  And He took the time to fold up His cloth.

I can’t begin to speculate why Jesus did that, but I can comment on what I learn from it: One, Jesus is never rushed. He’s not forgetful, frazzled, or running late. Therefore, I am never forgotten or left behind. I don’t get lost in the shuffle or mistaken for someone else. Moments in my life matter to Him and He doesn’t miss or dismiss them.

Two, Jesus is intentional. No detail is left undone, lost, or without purpose. Therefore, I can trust He will attend to the details of my life with purpose. And when He handles them in ways that leave me confused, fearful, or disappointed, I can rely on the fact that He knows “why.”

That folded cloth stands for more than good laundry etiquette. It’s a symbol of how Jesus doesn’t miss the details of your life. Nothing about you is overlooked or insignificant.

You are deliberately seen, known, and loved.