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Some people, when asked what super power they would most like to have, choose invisibility. Others of us don’t need to wish for this attribute because its a normal part of our lives. This isn’t a bad thing necessarily. As Carrie Underwood recently referred to herself, some of us are “blenders.” We’re not people that you would pick out of a crowd. Its not that we’re literally invisible, we’re just easy not to pay attention to. Recently I was out to dinner with some friends (all male, coincidently) and when I left the table I realized that I wasn’t sure that the conversation would have been any different had I not been there. Except for one of them realizing mid-way through ordering that they should have let me go first, I was pretty much table garnish. For whatever reason, I just don’t command a lot of attention – unless I’m playing fooseball or issuing my blistering whistle. And the fact is, I take a lot of comfort in the lack of attention that I receive. Once a friend remarked that it was his goal to make sure that I didn’t languish in obscurity. I retorted obscurity was kind of my goal. I am one of those people who enjoy the background.

This lack of identification has many benefits. One of the reasons that I don’t stand out is because physically I’m perfectly average. This means that shopping online for clothes is a cinch; my purchases don’t have to conform to a certain defining physiological attribute. My lack of notoriety also means that I have a lot of opportunity for observation. It may be why I’m so sensitive to others’ state of being; why I send e-mails of encouragement at the slightest hint of discord. Going unnoticed means that I notice a lot about others. It’s probably one of the reasons I write these blogs.

However, sometimes I take my ability to blend too far. Sometimes I notice a need and I don’t act to meet it. Sometimes I hear of someone’s pain and not wanting to intrude, I walk away. I don’t speak because I am afraid I won’t be heard not remembering that obedience is required regardless of impact. While my lack of action may go unnoticed by the world, my Maker will surely take note, and next time He may not give me the opportunity.

The thick mist hung in the air reducing visibility to a few yards. The fog obscured the landscape making my morning drive to work anything but usual. In fact, as I drove down the interstate I had to take a second and make sure that I was in fact in the right place. Because the fog changed the view of my surroundings, I couldn’t see my normal points of reference. The path was the same one that I travel every work day, and yet, the inclement weather made it seem different. My perception of what I should be seeing and what I could see were not one in the same; I didn’t know whether or not the road I was traveling was the right one.

I think the same thing that happened on my morning commute happens in life. Clouds settle around us and we don’t know whether the path we are walking is the right one. We can’t see up ahead and our normal vantage is obscured. Our points of reference – the good feelings that we get when we know we are walking in God’s plan – are nowhere to be found. We don’t remember changing directions and yet the road appears unfamiliar. Our guideposts are hidden from view.

This morning, I wasn’t sure I was on the right freeway until I saw the exit signs along the road. They were counting down in the same order that they do every morning. Even though the path felt different, the familiar points of exit told me that it was the right one. In life its the same way. God’s commandments are our road signs. And even when it feels unfamiliar, when we follow them, we can be confident that we are heading the right way.