To Know and be Known

This morning did not start well, with ongoing family issues to deal with on top of the post-ministry blues – that tired and tearful feeling when energy levels are depleted from ministering the previous day, and my soul seems more vulnerable to spiritual attack or its own natural weakness. Quite often when I am feeling this way, the effort to respond to my alarm, get out of bed and spend time with Jesus can seem too much, even though it is always the very thing I need most. And this morning I didn’t feel particularly faith-filled and vibrant, just discouraged by my own frailty. But I got up, and I called out simply because I needed Him.

And – as always – God was just so lovely, listening to my heart, responding with love, grace and acceptance, and taking me to parts of His Word that ministered healing to my heart, such as Ps 56 v3: “in the day that I’m afraid, I lay all my fears before you and trust in you with all my heart”, and v8: “You’ve kept track of all my wandering and my weeping. You’ve stored my many tears in your bottle—not one will be lost. For they are all recorded in your book of remembrance” (I love how David says ‘my MANY tears’ – always makes me feel better for being an emotional type)
And then v9: “The very moment I call to you for a father’s help, the tide of battle turns and my enemies flee. This one thing I know: God is on my side!”

How encouraging! As words on a page those verses from Psalm 56 are pretty special to anyone who can read – but for me in that moment they were exactly the medicine that God knew I needed, and His Spirit carried them directly to the most tender part of my heart where they could bring His restoration, strength and healing. And as I wrote the verses God had spoken to my heart into my journal I was overwhelmed with so much gratitude for how faithful He is – how loving a Father. In a short time He had taken me from a place of feeling exhausted and hopeless to feeling utterly loved and filled with faith. He is always so faithful to listen to all of my concerns and to show me the way through – and in that moment I just wanted to show Him the same love back. So I asked Him to show me what was on His heart.

I mean, we all know that relationship with God is supposed to be two-way, right? But how often do I take that to mean I share what’s on my heart and then wait to hear His answer? That’s not actually two-way relationship, it’s just a two-way dialogue where both of us take it in turns to speak and listen, but only one of us gets their needs addressed. And it might seem a weird thing to imagine that Almighty God has needs that we humans can possibly do anything about – as if small, limited & broken beings like us could in any way have anything to offer the eternal, complete & glorious God. But still in my naive foolishness I asked, “what is on Your heart, Lord? How can I help?”

And His answer blew me away. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the words that came instantly to my spirit:

“I want to be known”

Did you know that God the Father – the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent Creator of Heaven and Earth – has a heart cry that only we can answer? He wants to be known. Not just known about as a theory or dusty religious figure. Not just known as a passing acquaintance who we visit occasionally. Not just known in part (whether that’s the easy parts that we can cope with or the difficult parts that make us turn away instead of pressing in for understanding). He wants to be known as a Bride knows her Bridegroom. He wants us to intimately know Him. He longs to continually reveal aspects of Himself – His love, wisdom, overwhelming goodness and faithfulness, etc etc. There is so much to be found in God that even if we walked in continuous and endless revelation we could get to the end of our days and still have eternity to discover more.

To know and be known is the very pinnacle of relationship, and it is relationship with God that we were created for. That is what He longs for with His children, His Bride.

And so as I asked Him how I could help, He told me. And I heard gratitude in His voice*! Imagine that: God was thanking me for something! (actually for several things: for caring, for asking, and for doing it) It blows my mind to think that we have it within our power to grant or withhold God’s desires! Anyway, He asked me to tell people that He loves them and wants relationship with them – true, deep relationship where He can both know and be known.

So here I am, telling anyone and everyone who stumbles across this post, from God’s heart straight to yours:

He loves you. And He longs for relationship with you. To know you and be known by you – that is His heart’s desire. Call out to Him today and let Him show you His love! I pray your relationship with Him blossoms into something rich and beautiful.

“And so that we would know for sure that we are his true children, God released the Spirit of Sonship into our hearts—moving us to cry out intimately,
“My Father! You’re our true Father!” “
Galatians 4:6 (TPT)

*PS When I speak of God’s ‘voice’ I do not mean to imply that I hear Him audibly through my physical ears. It is almost always an inner voice that I have learned how to listen for in my heart, and that usually conveys not just the words, but the heart behind the words too. If you’d like to be able to hear like this, just ask Him – He is faithful and will teach you how.