Some evenings when my husband gets home from work, I say a quick “Hi!” and then escape up to my room for a few minutes of quiet. With four children, even good days feel like long days, and usually by 6:00 p.m. I’m craving a break from hearing “Baby Shark” on Alexa, my kids asking me a thousand questions, or handing out the five-hundredth snack of the hour.

Other days, my husband walks in the door and I start listing off every single thing I did that day, sometimes coupled with why other things didn’t get done.

• We went to the park.
• I didn’t get a chance to do the dishes.
• I got those forms filled out for preschool.
• I didn’t get the laundry folded.
• The boys already had a bath because they played in the mud . . . again.

My husband regularly asks me how my day went, but he doesn’t ask for a report on my to-do list. Yet, I still feel the need to share it. I have this innate desire to spill out every little detail of how my day went.

Why do I do this? 

However, lately I’ve realized I do this because I just want someone to notice.

Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or a woman working in a corner office, much of what you do goes unnoticed, doesn’t it? Even if your job requires you to be on stage and ends with literal applause, people still don’t see behind the curtain. They don’t see the hours of preparation or the tears you’ve cried or the late nights spent in meetings.

It’s not like I want a big trophy or a ceremony in my honor. But, at times, I do so desperately want to feel seen. What I do on a daily basis can feel lonely and isolating and, if I’m not careful, my desire to be seen and noticed can lead to unhealthy habits — like overworking, social media addiction, or people-pleasing.

The need to be noticed isn’t all bad. We’re not meant to live in isolation — we were created to live in community and to share our lives with others. But, the truth is, it is easy to forget that what we do at home or during our workdays or even while we’re on summer vacation does, in fact, get noticed.

Hebrews 6:10 ESV says, “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.”

The writer of Hebrews calls his readers to move from an infant faith to maturity, reminding them that God sees the work they do, and that it’s evidence of the faith they have. He reminds them to keep going and, later on, calls them to remember the hope they have in what is to come and how, through faithfulness and patience, they’ll inherit what God has promised.

In the meantime, we, too, are to faithfully live and work just like the original readers of Hebrews, loving God and loving others in ways both large and small — even when no one sees.

Friends, God sees our faithfulness. He knows the ways we serve our families through menial work, how we honor our co-workers at our day jobs, when we care for those who may not be able to express their appreciation, and our kindness shown to strangers.

God sees it all.

Fruthermore, the apostle Paul tells us that, because of the resurrection of Jesus, our “labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). The ways in which we show love to others, contributing to human flourishing, and the faithful work we do for God and His kingdom will not be demolished. Instead, our labor will be a part of the new creation that has already started through Christ.

So keep going — even if no one notices, even if no one sees. Because all that you do really is seen by a God who loves you and who will one day bring your faithfulness to fruition.

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