God Sees You

By Laura Busse

“The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” – Zephaniah 3:17

On a rare night out together, my husband and I wandered into a restaurant for dinner. Within seconds of being seated our waitress, Jessica appeared. Smiling and joyful, she took our order and sped away. While we waited, I kept catching Jessica out of the corner of my eye. 

First, I noticed her bounding up two flights of stairs carrying a tray loaded with enough food for two families. Less than a minute later, she was scrubbing down the table in front of us, also making sure that the floor and window around it were sparkling clean. Next, she sped by with a tub full of dirty dishes, heading to the kitchen. Seconds later, she burst back out through the doors with her arms full of clean silverware for an entire section of the restaurant. 

My husband and I marveled at her incredible stamina and work ethic. We thought she must have been a manager, or even an owner, to work that hard with such attention to detail. I had to ask. So when our dinners arrived, I blurted out, “Wow Jessica! You sure are busting your butt here. Do you own this place?”

Jessica only laughed, “No I’ve worked here for nine years. The woman at the front door is the manager. I don’t think she recognizes half of what I do around here.”

How often do you feel the same way? You work your butt off taking care of kids and no one sees how hard it truly is? You clean the kitchen and empty the dishwasher AGAIN and no one thanks you. You complete the same mundane tasks at work but have never received even a single compliment. You volunteer faithfully but wonder if it even makes a difference. 

Who recognizes what you do to keep your boat afloat, the family fed, or your house functioning day after day?

I learned the hard way not to look to others for recognition, but instead to look to God for affirmation. 

God sees you folding the laundry, cleaning the toilet, working diligently, and loving faithfully. He takes great delight in you and rejoices over you (Zephaniah 3:17). He waits for you to invite Him into every single area of your life. 

You can practice the presence of God by:

• Praying for the people whose clothes you are folding.
• Listening to praise music while cleaning your house.
• Read a Bible passage in the area you’re trying to grow right before leaving the house.
        (Or put it in the car so you see it every time you get in and out.)
• Invite God to join you wherever you go or whatever challenge you face.

Before you know it, you’ll realize you’ve spent the entire day with God close by. His presence will grant you joy even in the mundane tasks and daily routines. 

Before leaving the restaurant, we left Jessica a nice tip with a thank you note. On our way out, I stopped at the manager’s station and praised Jessica’s hard work and hospitality. Even if the manager doesn’t recognize Jessica as a gift, God certainly does. 


Laura Busse lives in Boulder, CO with her husband and three non-stop teenagers. As the founder of The 3 O'Clock Wake Up Call, she envisions a world where everyone in every nation gives thanks to God, every day at 3 pm. If you want to start getting daily 3 O’Clock Wake Up Call messages, you can either download the free mobile app (be sure to say “yes” to getting push notifications), or get text messages by texting 3PM to 313131.