The Joy of Being Fully Known

I have learned that the longer I have known someone, the more intricately my knowledge of them has expanded. Over time, newness is gone—and instead, it is replaced with deep familiarity. This special bond of closeness is what binds us together, two knowing each other as well as humanly and spiritually possible.

I was married to my husband John for almost 33 years before we lost him in his battle with Leukemia. Those years drew us together, sewing our souls in such a way as we knew each other’s hopes, dreams, and fears. Sometimes we completed each other’s sentences. Often, we sensed each other’s thoughts before the other voiced them aloud.

As a parent of three young adults, I still enjoy reflecting upon the experience of being pregnant with each one of them. I have always been a person who loves anticipation–so being pregnant was a particularly joyous time, looking forward to meeting each of our new babies. One of the greatest joys of my life has been raising each of them with their father, and discovering who they have become as unique, fascinating adults, contributing in their own ways to the world. It has been a holy privilege.

In the Apostle Paul’s writings in Ephesians 3:17, he shares, “May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.”

The longer I have been a Christian, the more intimately God knows me, and I know Him. The closer we have drawn, the more I hear His voice. The more frequently I cry out to Him, to hear my prayer and invoke His presence.

In like manner, God also knows me much better as I have grown older. He knows what makes my hearts sing. He knows what incites anxiety or doubt within me, and He knows when I need to be led to the perfect Bible verse to comfort and encourage me. He always gently leads me there.

There is nothing greater in the entire world than knowing the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love, and to be filled with all His fullness. It is pure delight and joy to be fully known by God, and to know Him more fully, each day, of this earthly journey.