Does this title sound like a contradiction? To be surveilled is to be watched, which implies being seen and might also imply being followed or stalked while having one’s movements tracked and recorded. Being surveilled does seem to be the exact opposite of being invisible, doesn’t it? To be surveilled is to be seen. To be invisible is to be unseen. To be invisible is to be unheard, uncared for and overlooked. So how can both be true simultaneously? In this age of digital hyper-surveillance, how is it that so many people feel invisible – feel unseen, unheard, uncared for and overlooked?

It’s ironic that both surveillance and invisibility seem to be increasing at the same time. In this age of increasing electronic surveillance, people’s feelings of loneliness, isolation and invisibility are also increasing. Currently, digital surveillance is being increased, so much so that it’s in the news as concerns are being raised about this new level of surveillance in our country. Specifically, at issue is the increase in Flock cameras everywhere, which record license plate numbers, make, model and color of vehicles on streets and highways, then feed this info into a national database. Many feel this is a step too far, an invasion of our right to privacy.

Businesses have cameras recording the people who come and go and even many homes have doorbell cameras recording anyone who comes to the door or enters the yard. Most public spaces today have electronic surveillance monitoring who enters in and who leaves. Facial recognition software aides in identifying “persons of interest” when necessary. All this enhanced surveillance of us, of you and I, should make us feel safer. Right? But does it? Maybe it depends on who is doing the surveilling and on what their intentions towards us are.

It would appear that in today’s culture, people do not want to be invisible, they want to be seen and heard. Many people go to great lengths to be noticed and to be known by name. I see my students making TikTok videos in hopes of becoming famous. People post all manner of things online with the hope that they will be noticed and seen by many. It seems we want everyone to know our name. We want to stand out from the crowd. We want to be seen. But government surveillance makes us uncomfortable.

Perhaps we don’t trust the nameless, faceless entity that surveils us because we don’t trust the motive behind the surveillance. “They” are watching us in order to catch us doing something wrong. They are looking for lawbreakers or perhaps dissidents? – individuals who disagree with those in power. However, being surveilled is different than being watched over. I may not like the feeling that I am under surveillance by someone who is “out to get me” but it is comforting to me to think that someone is watching over me in order to protect me, to guide me and to comfort me. I feel better knowing someone “has my back” as the saying goes.

So what’s the difference between “surveillance” and “watch care”? I think it’s who’s doing it and why they are doing it. Is it to harm me or to help me? My Heavenly Father watches over me twenty-four/seven. But I don’t mind because His intentions towards me are always only good.

” ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Our culture’s surveillance of us only leaves us feeling on edge, spied on, hunted down and perhaps even persecuted. And oddly enough, even with all this heightened surveillance, we still feel invisible. We don’t feel seen or heard for who we truly are. We don’t feel known. To government surveillance we are just a number, a demographic, a stereotype belonging to a certain age, income or ethnic group. You and I, the unique individual that each one of us is – we are not seen. We remain invisible amid the mass surveillance of our population’s comings and goings.

BUT – our Creator’s surveillance of us is much different. It is filled with care and compassion. Our Heavenly Father knows us individually and intimately. He should. After all, He created us. God has known you and me since before we were even born. The psalmist said –

“My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.” (Psalm 139:15-16)

“O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord.” (Psalm 139:1-4)

I am not invisible to my Heavenly Father, and neither are you, dear readers. We have this assurance of our great worth to Him in Jesus’s own words –

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the notice of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)

When I start to feel that I have become invisible to God, when I feel as if He no longer cares about me or watches over me, it is then that I remember Job and what he said. Job was suffering greatly. Job had lost everything and he felt as if he had become invisible to God. Job felt that God no longer saw him nor cared for him. Job couldn’t find God nor feel God’s presence. Job complained and then said these remarkable words –

“But if I go to the east, He is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him. When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him. But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:8-10)

Job may have lost track of God – BUT – God had not lost track of Job! And God never loses track of me or of you either, dear readers. Even then Job had faith that God knew exactly where he was and what he was going through (“the way that I take”). Job had faith that God would see him through his troubles and “bring him forth as gold.” God will do the same for me and for you, too. We are never overlooked nor invisible to our Creator God. His surveillance is constant, complete, caring and protective. It is described in this way in His word –

“My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:2-8)

with God’s surveillance, I am never invisible – He knows my name (He calls every star by name) and God always “knows the way that I take”. I am so grateful for God’s good, protective surveillance and for the knowledge that I am never invisible to Him. Neither are you, dear readers.

sincerely, Grace Day