Being Known

After my divorce I remember sitting across from my precious counselor and telling him, "I don't want to be relearned. I'm known." Someone knew my past, my hopes for the future, someone knew me. But this past week, I've had a revelation regarding being known. Part of it began last Thursday night. I'm sitting in J. Alexanders with my best friend from middle school, who I had not seen since I moved away the beginning of my freshman year. So, we're talking quite a while. We reconnected a couple weeks ago on Facebook, of all places, and realized that we had lived forty-five minutes away from each other for the last seven years and not even known.

As we sat across from each other reconnecting and catching up on the last twenty some years we began to recount our middle school days. We laughed over her crush of Raymond Whipple, who was the "Danny Zuko" of middle school. We laughed over my beating Alan Coker for Student Council President even after he had made campaign pencils to pass out and everything. She had been my campaign manager, and we had stunk, until I gave my debate speech, read a cheesy poem I had gotten from the back of a beauty pageant program book and got the crowd on their feet. During the middle of the conversation the thought crossed my mind, "She knows you."

Friday evening I had a dinner party for one of my mentors and his wife, my pastor and his wife, and my Nashville mom and her husband. As we sat around the table and talked and laughed, I realized that these people know me at this season of my life.
Sunday afternoon a group of friends came in from Atlanta. Some I've known for years, others only a few months, but each one knows some part or piece of my life. The thing I had been afraid I had lost through the loss of my marriage, the Lord has shown me these last few days how I am known.

But it goes farther than that. There was also a moment this weekend that He once again showed me how well He knows me. And that moment this weekend, sitting on my sofa, my niece Georgia laying on the sofa beside me, the book I had just finished in my hands and the tears running down my cheeks, my Father said, "I know you so well."

Ever felt forgotten? Ever felt like someone didn't know your past, doesn't care about your future, isn't interested in your today? Ever wondered if anyone out there would even miss it if you were gone. Oh, my friend, you are so known.

You're past is known- "Before you were formed in your mother's womb I knew you."
You're future is known- "I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope."
And you are known today- this very moment- "The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

Your being known goes even beyond the womb. Before your parents even thought of you God had designed you, destined your days, and placed before you the choice for how you and I would choose to walk those days out.

He also has plans for your future. they are plans that desire to prosper you and not to harm you. He has a future for you and a hope. We know today that earth's hope is in short supply. But heaven's hope never runs out.

He is also watching over what we do today. Our comings and our going. My friends, we are known. Every part of us is known. And we can't go to the depths of hell or despair, we can't walk through a grief too great, or a sin so overwhelming that He isn't there. We also can't experience a joy so enrapturing or a victory so great that He isn't in that too.

I don't know where you may be today. Encapsulated in grief or enraptured with joy, He is there. He's not pushy. He's not obtrusive. But He loves to be invited into your pain or into your joy. The decision is ours.

It isn't that bad to have people learn you I've discovered. It's like watching a movie for the second time with someone whose never gone before and you are able to enjoy it through their new experience of it. But it's also really nice to be known. Trust me, you've never been known this way before.

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