There are many things that come naturally to us, as humans. Hunger, thirst, sleep, coffee (well...for some of us anyway), and the desire for relationship....
To be known.
There's a newer song out now (you will find that I will reference music a lot b/c it speaks to me...no apologies) called "Known" by Tauren Wells. I am completely in love with this song. Truly. It encapsulates this natural desire we have and really lays out the solution to it.
"It's so unusual it's frightening You see right through the mess inside me And you call me out to pull me in You tell me I can start again And I don't need to keep on hiding
I'm fully known and loved by You You won't let go no matter what I do And it's not one or the other It's hard truth and ridiculous grace To be known fully known and loved by You I'm fully known and loved by You..."
Now in case you were wondering, these lyrics are not talking about your honey-buns, shnookums, or sweetie-cakes. Although I'm sure, men, that your ladies would swoon to similar words....so you should tell her that. Seriously....it's a word gold-mine, men. Anyways....I digress...
For those of you who are married, you probably know your spouse really well- better than anyone else. But you still don't fully know them. You can't. You can't read their minds, you can't truly know the ultimate desires of their hearts. And you can't, no matter how hard you try, fill that deep longing inside of them to really be known.
But there's a reason we have this innate longing.
We were created with it and with the only solution being Jesus.
Oh you can be sure we try everything else, known to man, to fill that void. We use stuff, status, food, and other people to try and cram that void full. And while it may suffice for a little while, it still ultimately leaves us with an empty space and us scrambling to find the next possible thing that may fill it. If you don't believe me, ask yourself this: "What is your heart craving? What are you really striving for?" I bet the answer falls into one of those categories.
We can spend our entire lives searching and faking it. Or...we can live in the joy and contentment of our true calling.
Sounds simple, right?
Well....if you've lived for a minute, you know it's not. If it was, we'd see cultures full of content people and less obnoxiously commercials on TV (as well as those creepy Amazon ads on social media for the things you clicked on once....*shudder*). But what we actually see is the opposite. Even with those of us who claim to follow Jesus.
Ouch.
If the answer is that simple, then why is it so hard to obtain?
Well, it's not that it's hard to obtain really.....it's just that we are easily distracted sinful people. Jesus IS enough to be the filler of the void. But this world is really quite good at distracting us.
The beautiful part though, is that we are FULLY KNOWN by the Creator of everything! Think about that for a second. Absolutely, completely known- inside and out...every hair on your head, every freckle on your body, every thought and deepest desire....fully known.....by THE Creator.
And He wants us to know Him as well. He continues to pursue us, even when we run the opposite direction....even when we spit in His face....even when we replace Him with everything else.
And even when we do all those things....He welcomes us back with loving arms into His fully known embrace.
The more we seek Him, the less distracting this world becomes.
So dear friend....let that sink in. Live, in the fully known and fully loved.
That is relentless love. That is ridiculous grace.