Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet.
Luke 8:47
“I’m feeling more and more invisible as I am getting older.” That’s what an attractive woman disclosed during one of the gatherings I hosted for a small group of women. Her honesty led to others sharing their struggles of feeling invisible in their marriages, in their singleness, in their desire to have children, at work, in their business, and in their desire to capture the attention of the opposite sex.
At any age, we can feel invisible, but a study by NIVEA found that 68 percent of women say that society makes them feel invisible as they age, and that women over 50 say they feel the most invisible.
In a few weeks from now, I will be celebrating my 61st birthday. As excited as I am to celebrate another birthday, I can relate to feeling invisible. At one time or another, we’ve all felt invisible.
You can begin to make a shift to being more visible by asking yourself: Why and where do you want to feel more visible?
For many women, visibility in a society bent on emphasizing youth and physical beauty is a challenge. Older women are underrepresented in magazines, media, and ads as if we don’t exist. The truth of the matter is that real beauty doesn’t have an expiration date. It is the beauty that is within that doesn’t go unnoticed by God no matter your age.
There was a nameless woman in the Bible that had an illness for 12 years that made her feel ignored and hopeless. Desperate, she pushes her way through the crowd to touch the hem of the garment of Jesus believing she’d be healed if she could just touch His robe.
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. "Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you." But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me." Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." Luke 8:43-48.
Jesus loves and deeply cares about us. There is nothing about us that He doesn’t notice.
If you’ve experienced times where you’ve felt invisible, and are ready to get unstuck, here are some practical suggestions:
Recognize that invisibility is a feeling; how you think can change how you feel.
Identify the people and the situations that make you feel invisible.
Ask yourself if you are unknowingly contributing to your invisibility.
Look for solutions you can take to increase your visibility.
Have a conversation with the person(s) to bring about a solution to your feeling invisible.
Forgive the person for their actions for making you feel invisible.
Give your feelings of being unappreciated, unseen, and not valued to Jesus.
Allow your beauty within to never become invisible.
God’s invisibility doesn’t prevent you from seeking Him for a more intimate relationship. Make a commitment no matter your age to live a visible and passionate life; a life that shines bright and beautiful for Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, when no one else notices me, you notice me. Even the very hairs of my head are numbered by you. I desire to be visible to you more than being visible by man. In Jesus Name. Amen.