known

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

God always invites us beyond where we are.  Thus, as we lean in to the invitation deeper into his heart, it is both incredibly exciting and absolutely terrifying.  Because as we go deeper into his heart, he asks us to let go of deeper and deeper things, some of which are so deep that they feel like part of who we are.  But they are not.  They are merely the deepest and most subtle ways we have lived falsely, and moving deeper into the heart of God means that we learn to be our truest, Christ-like selves.  So sometimes this call to wholeness means giving up our idea of what wholeness even looks like in the first place, which is letting go at one of its deepest levels.  It is all a part of the journey to “know fully, even as we are fully known.”  The two go hand in hand.  

God does not want us to settle for less.  Whatever it takes to strip away the false and bring about the true, is what he will do.  He loves us too much to allow us to live lives that are less than what he dreamt them to be.

Lord God, seeing you and knowing you is such a process.  It does not happen all at once.  Lead us on this amazing journey of knowing and being known, until that day when we are able to see you clearly and know you—and ourselves—fully.  Amen.