Known

What does it mean to be known?

There have been many thoughts swimming around my brain about this for awhile now.

There are so many people I don’t know. You may be thinking “well obviously Emily. This is basic knowledge,” but really there are are so many people I don’t know. Despite my oblivion to people’s existence there are 7.5 billion people on this earth each with a unique mindset, worldview, and story. To know even 1% of them, I would have to know 75 million people. That’s a lot of people…

There are people who know and care about me who I don’t even know, and I know the same thing applies to you. Friends of friends hear stories and we create images of who we think people are inside our head. Someone can care deeply about a person they have never met because they have constructed an image of who they perceive the person to be. I even pray for people that I don’t know!

The fact that there are people who know and care about someone without ever meeting them changes the definition of what being known is.

I never want to be the person who knows and cares about God without ever knowing God. What a terrible place to be, to know God but to not know of his transformational love.

The Pharisees are a perfect example of this. They knew God. They understood his law like nobody else. They knew every detail about how to live according to his rule book. But they didn’t know the person behind the rules. They didn’t know that God is sacrificial, humble, compassionate, and forgiving. They were so focused on knowing God on the outside, that they forgot to look at his heart.

In an age where social media, internet friends, and dating apps are a part of daily life, how can we learn to get beyond what is on the surface and know what is in someone’s heart?

God knows every single one of us to the fullest. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what our lives hold and he knows how to take care of us. In the midst of our struggles and pain, he knows how to deal with the brokenness. He knows who we will encounter throughout our life. He is the one who knows us better than we know ourselves. Because of that, he is worthy of our trust.

We must get to know God’s heart. To know who he is means knowing his nature. As we allow ourselves to grow closer to God, the more we will feel his Spirit. His Spirit guides us through every situation we encounter. We must trust that his Spirit will guide us to be right where God wants us to be.

Rather than focusing on how the world views me, I want the world to know who I know. Rather than getting to know Emily I hope that, through me, people begin to know the Lord. I hope that when someone takes the time to get to know me, that they will realize who I am living for. I don’t want a single person I meet to go without knowing who I find my identity in. This is how I have been challenging myself recently. I have been trying to know the Lord more so that I can more fully understand what He has done for me. When we know the Lord in this way, we can’t help but go and share Him.

I hope that this post has been encouraging, it has taken a long time for me to put my thoughts into words. I am currently sitting in the airport waiting to go to England to reconnect with my family, friends, and church in England. I cannot wait to see how God uses this trip, and I hope that I will be encouraged from it. Please be praying for safe travels! Until next time!