See Being Overlooked As An Adventure Of Growth - Five Days to Joy When You’re Overlooked

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28, NLT)

Being overlooked does not often feel like an adventure of growth. Trials don’t often feel like adventures—especially when they involve strained relationships. Consider how J.B. Phillips rendered James 1:2-4:

“When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence.”

Have you resented trials as if they were intruders? Oh to have a heart that welcomes them as friends, especially when we’re feeling unseen!

Looking back on our lives helps us observe something powerful. It is precisely those times of desperation and pain that we experience the greatest degree of growth and positive change. (It’s worth noting that some people hinder their own growth in hard seasons by resisting change, giving in to bitterness, and not turning to God for help.)

No growth journey is pristine. Sometimes we turn to God. Other times we retreat into ourselves. Despite our frailties and inability to trust, God is faithful to grow us through the desperate times.

Perhaps that’s where you are right now as you read this devotional. Desperate. In need. Wondering. Worrying. Stressed out. Confounded by that friend’s dismissal.

Instead of pushing against the pain, embrace the nine-letter word that changes everything. SURRENDER. Through prayer—surrender every hurt. Release it to the One who loves you dearly.

Life is an adventure—and so is growth. Even this season of feeling overlooked can open the door to new growth. When we trade dread for a holy curiosity, we find the strength to endure with joy.

Robert Browning Hamilton understood when he penned this poem:

I walked a mile with Pleasure;

She chattered all the way,

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say

I walked a mile with Sorrow,

And not a word said she;

But oh, the things I learned from her

When Sorrow walked with me!^a

Remember God’s promise to make something beautiful of your current trials (see today’s verse). Wait with expectancy for the beauty of new growth!

PRAYER:

Jesus, forgive me for seeing my pain as an obstacle rather than a means to grow! I want to move through this feeling of being overlooked. Help me to find you in the struggle. Amen.