On my mind

This week I have been thinking a lot about knowing. You've probably heard it said that our deepest desire is to know and be known....I think that God made us relationally this way. Because He wants us to know Him and He wants to (and already does) know us. Then He turns us outward and wants us to know and be known by others.

Pretty simple sounding, right?

Well, it's not. It's hard work to really know someone. It's hard work to allow ourselves to really be known. It's so much easier to know about, to serve, to check things off a list, to keep things on the surface.

This verse has been on my mind lately:
"On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and then I will declare to them ' I never knew you'" -Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus wants us to know Him. It is that simple.

BUT...When we really know someone or are known by them we have to face big things. Hard things. Fears. Expectations. Hopes. Confusion.

I want to know Jesus, to really know Him. But sometimes that is messy-looking. Just like people, He is not someone that can be "figured out" or put into a box. He is bigger than that. And it's kind of overwhelming. It's equally overwhelming thinking about how well He knows me, the good and bad and in between.

In my classes, we've been talking a lot about secure attachment. That's a fancy psychology term for basically being healthily attached (without being overly attached) in your relationships. Peter Fonagy, an expert in this area, says that secure attachment is "knowing that you exist in someone's mind". This is something that we all want. For others to be aware of us, to care for us, to know that we pass through their minds every once in a while...

And God gives us this. We are at the forefront of His mind.

I am so convinced that at the end of the day, God just wants us to be honest with Him. To put ourselves out in front of Him and say "God, this is me. These are the little parts of me that I don't show to other people-these are the parts that I think I can even keep from You.

Show me who You are. I am nothing like You but I want to be."

He can handle knowing us, and He wants us to know Him.

Pretty sweet, don't ya think?