Unseen But Not Unloving

When you’ve waited on the sidelines with a full heart and silent lips

I’ve loved someone quietly for years. Not in a movie-scene way. In a faithful, hidden, no-one-ever-knew kind of way. The kind of love that doesn’t make announcements. The kind that lingers in the background of conversations, behind polite smiles and subtle prayers. The kind you carry without expecting to be carried back. It started slow — a feeling I thought would pass.

But love has a way of taking root in the unnoticed places. And over time, I stopped asking if it mattered and just kept showing up anyway.

The Weight of Being Unseen

I’ve been in the car with him. Walked through church halls with him. Shared scriptures, laughed at inside jokes, sat beside him in silence. All the while, I kept this little secret folded up inside me — not out of shame, but out of reverence. It felt safer not to say anything. Because to name it would be to risk everything. And I figured, Why disturb something good for the chance at something uncertain?

But then he said he was lonely. That he’s been searching. That he’s talking to someone new. And something in me cracked open. Not from jealousy exactly. But from the discomfort of watching someone you care for turn toward everyone but you — while you’ve been there all along.

“There is a time to be silent and a time to speak…” — Ecclesiastes 3:7

I didn’t say anything. Still haven’t. Because maybe I’m not what he’s looking for. Maybe I never was. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t love him. And it certainly doesn’t mean I don’t.

What I’ve Come to Understand

Turns out, being “the safe one” doesn’t get you the movie ending — just the front-row seat to someone else’s.

I used to believe love had to be mutual to be real. That if it wasn’t returned, it must have been foolish. But I don’t believe that anymore.

Now I know: Love doesn’t have to be received to be sacred. It just has to be true.

“Love is never wasted, even when it isn’t returned.” — Brené Brown

“To love someone in silence is to worship without words.” — Unknown

I’ve learned to carry it with dignity. To be the one who intercedes without being asked. To pray over someone’s future without needing to be in it. And to admit — finally — that it hurts sometimes to be the one who is always there, but never chosen.

Soul Insights

1. Hidden love is still holy.

Just because no one sees it doesn’t mean it hasn’t shaped me. God saw it. And He’s used it to refine me.

2. Being present doesn’t guarantee being chosen.

But it does reveal character. Quiet faithfulness is its own kind of strength — and God never overlooks it.

3. Real love doesn’t manipulate.

It doesn’t scheme, force, or insert itself. It honors timing, boundaries, and the freedom of the other person.

4. Silence is not the same as denial.

Naming what I feel, even privately, is a form of healing. The truth doesn’t need an audience to be powerful.

5. God knows what I’ve carried.

Even if this love never becomes more, He sees the years I’ve loved without credit, and He holds it tenderly.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” — Proverbs 13:12

Final Thoughts

I don’t know what will happen.

I don’t know if he’ll ever see me.

And honestly, I’m not sure that’s the point anymore.

Because the real freedom?

It’s not in being loved back.

It’s in being honest with myself — and with God — about what I feel.

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” — Exodus 14:14

This love may never be returned.

But it made me more loving.

More prayerful.

More honest.

More brave.

And maybe…

that was the point all along.

Your Turn

Have you ever carried a love in silence?

You’re not foolish. You’re not weak.

You’re someone who has learned how to love with both hands open — and God sees it all.

Soul Path Insights