How Do You Act When No One Can See
I don’t know about you, but when I was a child, I wanted to have the power of invisibility. I might have watched too many cartoons in which you could become invisible by putting on a cloak, but the idea was intriguing. Dreaming of all the things I could do if I were invisible became a pastime, and even thinking about those dreams makes me smile.
I would imagine my mom’s confusion when invisible Tania walked into a room and moved items around. Nothing would ever be where she left it. Or, maybe I would open the refrigerator and take out the ice cream for a midday snack. She couldn’t tell me I would ruin my dinner if she couldn’t see me.
Playing tricks on my sister was high on my “invisible to-do” list. She was a thorn in my side when I was young, and since I was the older sister, I had to be nice to the baby. Well…invisible Tania would have gotten payback for all the times she embarrassed me, which was pretty often!
Sneaking candy and sweets to eat, pestering my family, and walking into rooms to listen in on private conversations were things I would do if I was invisible. But I can’t remember ever wanting to do “nice” things if no one could see me.
Invisible, Tania could have done chores like making the beds or doing the dishes without anyone knowing how they got done. But where would the fun have been in that??? Mom wouldn’t have known it was me, so she wouldn’t have told me I had done a good job. If I was going to do chores, I wanted my work to be acknowledged.
Isn’t that how most of us are, even as adults? We want to be invisible and keep all our sneaky and naughty deeds in the dark, but we want any good deeds to be out in the open for everyone to see. But that isn’t what Jesus wants us to do.
Matthew 6:1-4 NIV
1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Jesus tells us that our Heavenly Father sees what we do in private, even if others don’t. He also sees what we do in the open and why. He doesn’t want us to announce at the top of our lungs that we gave to the poor in order to get a pat on the back. In my opinion, He isn’t saying you can’t do good deeds when someone is around. I think He is saying not to do a good deed in order to get glory.
Doing good deeds in front of someone can be encouraging. One of my favorite commercials was about good deeds being witnessed by someone who, in turn, did a good deed for someone else. Those good deeds were done from the heart, not in order to boast about it on social media.
So, invisible Tania needs to stop sneaking ice cream from the refrigerator and, instead, make donations to the poor. While she won’t get an “atta girl” here on earth, she might get a ‘Well done, good and faithful servant” from the Lord.
To GOD Goes The Glory!
Have A Blessed Day!
Insightful – I never thought about wanting to be invisible to do good things. Haha I guess this says a lot about human nature!
Such a great message!
What a great message today! Thanks, Tania!
Great post. Thanks for your weekly thoughts from your heart.
This is a word right here! Makes me examine my heart when I’m doing things. God should get all the glory!!! To be the glory for all that He has done!!!
Thanks for the Sunday devotional. Look forward to reading each week. ❤️
Thank you again for another wonderful reminder of how we should live our lives!
As always to God be the glory!
Good message as always.
Great story and love Matthew 6. Sometimes I have to remind myself of the verses shown. It’s easy to pat yourself on the back when you do good things. Beautiful pink colors. I can’t see where you need to lose weight, but I get it! It’s all in how you feel about it and how you want to look and feel. You can do it! BTW…you have the best hair!
I do look forward to your Sunday posts! This one made me laugh as you described little me so perfectly. Good lesson!
Wonderful message! 💕
Amen!
Boy I can relate to sneaking of treats when no one can see! What a good way to switch this around, to do good instead of using it for our benefit. Sometimes at age 69 1/2 years, I feel invisible! But that’s another story!
I too wanted to be invisible when I was a child. Have a wonderful and blessed week!
Great devotion Tania!!! Adults (including myself) can be sneaky kids.
~Lisa~
LOVED your message🥰
Thank you for this very truthful and thought provoking message.
I look forward to reading your devotions on Sundays. They are always so inspiring. Thanks Tania
May the Holy Spirit encourage you today.
Powerful message Tania. I think we all know someone who loves to toot their own horn and draw attention to themselves when it is not necessary. While it is nice to be acknowledged for doing something nice for others, it needs to come from someone else, not yourself.
Have a good week.
I know several people who would greatly benefit from reading this post, I’ll try to discreetly pass it on to them. Maybe they’ll get the hint! Thank you.
Lol! Good luck with being discreet. I hope you print it out instead of sending the website link. They might read the comments.
Awesome message!
I too thought about being invisible as a child, my imagination would run wild as to what I could get away with. But as an adult I’ve learned to accept my responsibilities.
Your message is a great reminder that we should try to be humble when serving others, and not to be rewarded with praise but accept humility.
Great reminder Tania! Thank you. Have a blessed day 🙂
Tania,
When I was younger I also wished I had the power to be invisible … so that I could just see what my family was doing or taking about …
Love the invisible thoughts!
Wonderful lesson, Tania! Have a beautiful day!
Do everything with love….
Have a blessed day🌹
Trish
Lol, yes. I wanted to be invisible too to pull jokes on my siblings. As the babies of the family (I’m a twin), we were constantly getting tricks played on us. How fun it would have been to snoop on my big sisters or follow my brothers on their adventures without being told to “get lost” or “you’re too little, a girl, etc.”. And of course when doing good things, I wanted acknowledgment. I like the pay it forward commercial too. It’s all about our heart’s motivation, isn’t it? Have a wonderful and blessed week, Tania.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who wanted to be able to be invisible. Lol!
Doing secret good works goes against a 21st century mindset — but God’s way of doing things were never trendy anyway. Whatever I’m naturally inclined to do, God’s way is probably the opposite.
You are right. Our human nature is not usually in line with God’s work, it takes effort on our part.
Motivation and integrity. We had a conversation with our grandsons this week about the mouth exposing what’s in the heart. Invisible or not, were eventually seen for who we really are. Thanks for being real… not invisible!
Amen, great message to remember.
You have made a beautiful point. Sometimes it is nice to hear about people just having a kind heart. You surely do!
There is a difference is bragging about something you did, and sharing to encourage others to do it also.
Love that Tania, such a wonderful message!
Thank you for this reminder!
I just love all the typical things you wanted to do when you were invisible. Such a kid thing. But like you said we want to hear “Well done good and faithful servant”
I can smile too at this thought. I was the same, but I also thought someone else might be invisible watching me when I didn’t know it!
Yikes, I never thought about someone else watching me…except for Santa Claus and Jesus.
Good reminder