As Gaylon and I walked into a conference in Missouri, there was a huge crowd. Five thousand people were at the Prayer and Power conference. As I walked through the bustling crowd, I felt so alone. Though my husband held my hand, it was my heart that was downcast.

Gaylon served as a pastor for more than thirty years. By far, the majority of the people in our churches served alongside us and helped us with the work of the ministry. But as there is in any profession, there are those people who are so difficult.

We had just had a difficult week in our church, and I was frazzled, tired, and tired of! We had already signed up for the Missouri conference, and it was prepaid. I had no desire to go, but I did. I had already decided I was not going to get anything from the conference, but at least we had a trip out of town, and nobody there would know us.

As we entered the auditorium, Gaylon asked where I wanted to sit, and I pointed to the nosebleed section located in the balcony.  Up we went to the balcony, and I chose the last row. I could hide in the nosebleed section and even God could not find me.

The conference began with resounding, passionate worship – from the other 4,999 attendees, or so I felt. I just stood there numb from the pain I had tried to leave at home. “God, I cannot feel You, and I’m not even sure you notice me in the crowd.”

As the worship-filled moments continued, I noticed movement to my right. I saw a woman climbing over people seated on her row, and then she walked several rows up and stopped in front of me. “God, I have enough on my mind without dealing with a “cereal” Christian. (You know – the ones that are nuts and flakes.)

The woman’s eyes met my eyes, and she leaned over and whispered in my ear. “God told me to come over to you. He told me that you are a pastor’s wife, and you have been terribly wounded. God said to tell you that He sees you in the crowd, and He set up this divine appointment. He is going to make up for all the pain you have been through. You will see His hand.”

Tears began to stream down my face as I realized God found me in the crowd. That woman did not know me from Adam, but God used her to say, “I see you, my daughter, and I am working in your behalf.”  And God did just that!

In the midst of a crowd, I would not have expected God to speak to me. Yet, there are many stories in scripture where Jesus met individuals while they were in the crowd.

• In the fourth chapter of Matthew in verse twenty-five, we read that large crowds followed Jesus. Yet in that crowd, He healed those brought to Him, those that “were ill with various diseases, those suffering from severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed.” Jesus saw each person in the crowd.
• In Matthew chapter eight, we are again told a large crowd is following Jesus. A man with leprosy came and knelt before Christ, asking to be made clean. Christ reaches out, touches him, and he is immediately healed. The leper was one man in the crowd.
• Mark two gives us a story from the time Jesus is in Capernaum. The story takes place in a home. There were so many people gathered that there was no room left inside or outside of the house. There was a crowd. Four men were determined to have their friend healed, so they lowered him through the roof. Jesus took His eyes off the crowd and put them on the individual, and the man was healed. He was one in the crowd.
• In Mark five, we see a very well-known story of a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. The crowd was enormous, and Jesus was penned in on every side. In the midst of a large crowd, she presses forward and instantly finds healing from the touch of the Lord. She was one woman in the crowd.

Do you feel unseen in the crowd? He sees you. He sees your wounds and your worries. The Lord never turns a blind eye to His people. He is the God who sees us. Jesus knows all about us. He knows where to find us, even in the crowd.

“Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.’ She also said, ‘Have I truly seen the One who sees me?’” (Genesis 16:13).