WO PEOPLE PERFORM SIMILAR TASKS, DO THE IDENTICAL THING, achieve the same results. One gets the write-up, the other not; one gets the praise, the other goes unnoticed. What to do when you’re the one slighted—the one whose accomplishments go unobserved?
First, you recognize that such is life. If you keep expecting to have your feathers stroked, you’ll often be disappointed. Sometimes people just don’t notice. Other times what may seem significant to you may not seem so to them—and they may well be the very ones who have the power to advance you. You’ve got to come to the place where you do something for its own sake; for the sheer joy of doing it; because it’s the right thing to do. And after you’ve done it, just forget it and move on.
Second, you must recognize that such is life (did I say that before?). Some people seem to be always “nearer the microphone,” always “in the line of the camera.” Don’t push yourself forward; stand back; rise above it so completely that after a while you don’t even notice you’ve not been noticed; not been called upon; not been asked for your opinion. Erase from your psyche any resentment; live your life—it’s so short already—and know that He who sees the sparrow fall always has you in His sights.
So whatever your vocation, whatever your line of work, whatever the task or enterprise that engages you, keep on working, keep on serving, even when no one notices—knowing, of course, that God is always watching.
In a moment of deep emotional stress for Ahaz, God sent this message to him—perhaps applicable to us in the present context: “‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid’” (Isa. 7:4).
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Roy Adams is an associate editor of the Adventist Review. This article was published February 18, 2010.
