You Are Known

In a time when we can curate, filter, and edit our lives to look however we want, it is becoming increasingly difficult to allow ourselves to be truly known. It’s just easier to create our lives from a distance than to share it up close. We’ve traded in the gold that comes from sharing our true lives for the fool’s gold that comes from sharing our highlight reel and hiding our hurt. And this trade comes at a cost.

We can begin to convince ourselves that our triumphs are to be shared with the world, while the dirt from our trenches are to be swept under our rugs, but the truth is, followers of Jesus have forfeited the idea of having secret aspects of life. To love an All-Knowing God is to relinquish all thoughts of privacy and anonymity. This does not mean we should respond by sharing our troubles with every person that crosses our path. It means we must practice discernment, sharing our lives with the few people who have earned the right to explore the cracks and crevices of our souls. In our decision-making, doubts, and trials we need to be reminded that we are not on this journey alone. We need to know we are known.

To be known requires us to be vulnerable with a few select people, trusting them with the most delicate aspects of our lives. This takes time and pain, two things we’d rather avoid than embrace. Allowing ourselves to be known may be difficult, but it is a necessary step we must take if we want to flourish as leaders. It creates accountability and cultivates belonging.

And one of the most affirming sections in scripture acknowledging the reality of us being known is found in Psalm 139:

“For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.” – V.13-16

You cannot be more known than what the Psalmist describes in this passage. The All-Knowing God saw you before there was any of you to see, leading him to knit you into your being, choosing intimacy with you from the beginning.  

God intricately weaves his image-bearing creation with an unrivaled uniqueness. And he doesn’t stop there. He writes each one of your days with the same attention, working with an everlasting gaze. You are fully seen and fully known. This thought is only as frightening or as wonderful as the being that the eyes belong to. And the eternal eyes on you are fueled by a relentless love.

How do these truths empower your daily leadership? When you can rest in the promise that you are fully known, then you can boldly place your cares into the same hands that knit you together in your mother’s womb. And when your soul knows very well the wonderful works that God displays within you, then you are able to lead with a heavenly mixture of confidence and humility. Confidence because of knowing the intentionality that the Creator of the universe put into weaving you and your days. Humility because of knowing that he cares in the same way for your neighbor.

Leading from your unique self and empowering others to do the same is your daily act of worship, but it starts with recognizing the depth of knowledge God has on your life. Take time to praise God for his intricate weaving of your days, while inviting a select few to know your steps during those days. You are seen. You are known. You are loved. May your soul know it very well.