One of my trademark sayings (so I have been told), is my regular use of the brilliant phrase “God Knows!” – Yes, I admit that it rolls off my tongue quite a lot and usually when I have unanswered questions on my mind. ☺♥☺
Who knows you? . . . I mean really knows you? Has that question provoked a slight awkward nervousness in your heart just now? Maybe it brings a calming sense of well-being and peace because you know you are loved unconditionally and completely? Possibly it challenges you to the core of who you are or aspire greatly to be? Well today God sent a lightning bolt (as real as the one about to flash again outside my window), a gunshot, a bow’s arrow straight into this heart of mine .. .. .. I was asked the same question.
God challenged me to look at the things my heart hungers and thirsts for. Some moments later, I answered Him. It came through a song. It came through painful realization. It came through the acknowledgement that ONLY one person can truly ‘know’ every single facet of me. Though I choose to share different parts of myself, my life, my thoughts, my desires, my dreams, my jokes, my writing, my cooking, my achievements, my longings, my laughter, my creativity, my love, my affections and my passions with people in varying degrees of intimacy, truly there is only ONE who really knows the real me. He knows the “me” with no barriers, no pretending, no masks, no hidden motives, no insecurities, no fears, no vulnerabilities or barriers. He loves me despite my weaknesses, sins, frailties, failures and vulnerable ways.
He jumps right into each day with me, longing to make me even better than the version of me I was yesterday. He proudly comes alongside me to help me in my attempts to improve on yesterday’s performances and choices, because He knows my heart truly longs to be the best me I can be for Him and those I do life with. He giggles at my childish jokes, and loves the unique traits He has given me – He calls into being every dream and desire that resides in my heart; He gently holds me when the storm rages and I have no solution for the circumstances my little boat sails through; His name is God. He whispers goodnight as the moon hangs in the midnight sky, with His promise to never leave my side; staying with me through every twist and turn the road may take. Nothing surprises Him, and nothing about me is hidden from His eyes. When I have days where I would rather run from Him and life seems to dare me to give up, He will still be there, here, beside me. He is ever present, He never slumbers or sleeps.
Hunger (whether physical or psychological) is not a game; it can lead people to do crazy and dangerously soul-destroying things. You may be quite familiar with your own “hunger games” and the cravings of your own heart. Maybe you don’t believe in God? .. .. .. but truth be told He believes in you. He created you with a void that only He can fill. He sees the amazing dormant potential in you, that awaits for His breath of life to create a new and amazing detour to the road you currently walk on – is there a hunger in your heart, even now, to be ‘known’ – truly known?
He sees you weep when you feel the floundering winds of change sweep you to a place where life is scary or hard to understand. He holds your arms up when you are tired or weary from the fight. He cheers you on when life is victorious and hugely rewarding. He is God and He does not miss one solitary moment of your life. Even in a crowded room, where you are surrounded my many, He does not miss one thing about you. He knows you, but He also loves you! Sure many others can touch your heart, occupy space there, impact you deeply and love you there.. .. .. but there is truly only ONE who can know every facet of your life, your mind, your thoughts and your soul – GOD! Wisdom tells us to choose carefully the ones we allow into our hearts, to select these special ones wisely and cautiously, but we are always better off the closer we walk with God.
Today this truth hit me like a bolt of lightning .. .. .. like a dart aimed for the bulls-eye, like a perfect 180 shot straight into the dart board of my heart. I’ve experienced a lightning bolt to my heart before, but this is not the time to share those stories – all I can say is that upon reading a challenging piece of text today, I realized that God was speaking loudly, directly, clearly and seriously into my heart, asking me “Denise, do you know that I know you? You are not one of the ‘unknown’, you are not forgotten or undiscovered by me – I see you” ~
Can I be honest here? Well, I will be anyway and hope that you too will be honest with your own heart. I really forgot that God knew me .. .. .. that He both wants to and desires to, and is delighted to know me! The God I sing to and speak daily to, this amazing God that I daily surrender my life to, knows me. WOW .. .. .. think about that: The God who flung stars into space, knows you. The One who has seen and will see everything about this Universe; the One who sees when you win or lose – knows you. He knows exactly how many hairs are on your head, how many tears you have cried, how many years you have lived, the breaths your life will amount to, the past, present and future for you – He knows your name!
Maybe the land of being “known” is already a land you frequent a lot, sharing glorious moments, hours and occasions of great joy and strength in His beautiful presence? but for some it is a land where they feel like an alien; hungering to be accepted unconditionally. Well, today I remind you, invite you, beseech you, to find a quiet place (like I have), to take a realistic look at the activities of your life – who do you do them for? Are these activities a reflection of the desperate hunger in your life for acceptance and love? God does not want your life to be one series of relationships, endeavours and “hunger games” after another, where you seek to fill your life with anything rather than emptiness. He wants to fill you with the greatest acceptance, love, favour and romance you could ever know.
Close your eyes, listen, He is already here. No more hunger games, no more running, no more pretending; It is time to experience the liberation of being known by Him, and in that place you will experience God loving what He knows about you; and making you the best you possible! =)
Then go and feed others – show them how being unconditionally loved by God satisfies beyond any other source!
Denise Kennedy❀ 