04/06/2022
I think that one of the hardest emotions we can feel is that of being misunderstood.
As people, we long to be seen and known; for our hearts to be understood and valued right where they are at. This need to be understood gives way to us being vulnerable when it’s uncomfortable, honest when we would rather be silent.
And when we put ourselves out there, it’s crushing when it’s met by rejection. People take our words and twist them, they take our actions out of context and they make assumptions about us as a whole that just aren’t true.
I know for me, it causes me to question every single thing I say and do; it makes me tiptoe around people, being careful to not crush the eggshells around relationships. We constantly feel the need to explain and validate what we are feeling.
And it’s exhausting.
But tiptoeing means that we aren’t able to run free. Tiptoeing holds us back from the freedom of feeling safely vulnerable, or even safe at all.
That’s it. Being misunderstood makes me feel unsafe.
But there is one place that I’m never misunderstood. There’s one person who understands me fully. There’s one person who doesn’t want to hear my explanations, but longs to sit me on his lap and hear my heart and all of the complex things I’m feeling.
My heart is safe in the hands of my Heavenly Father. He comforts me in my pain and validates it in compassion. His Spirit points me to the truth of who I am, not what others are thinking about me. He knows my thoughts, they are precious to him, and he understands them fully. And my heart is never met with a rejection, only an invitation for me to lean in, to be loved and known, and to grow more into who he is.
So sweet misunderstood friend, know that when the rest of the world doesn’t feel safe, there is a God who understands you fully. You don’t need to explain yourself (unless you want to spill it all out, he loves it when you talk to him), you just have to come to him knowing that there is nothing that can separate you from his love.
Rest in the love of your Father, dear one. He understands you.
