To Be Known

Thursday, July 20

To Be Known
By: Lori Ennis


As a military wife, I’ve often found myself journeying to places that, initially, seem distant and unfamiliar. If honest, they seem like the last places on the planet I would want to be. I’ve resisted them, wanting to stay in my comfort zone with my people. I didn’t want ‘new people’ because the current were just fine, thank you very much.

But, as time passes, roots grow. They deepen. The once strange places turned into MY places, and so much of who I am is because of where I’ve been and what I’ve done with the new. Each place I move turns into a place that I not only know well, but am KNOWN well.

To be known in a community is extremely comforting. It’s to be part of a group that knows the ins and outs of your days and your life. They revel in your roses growing and laugh with you as you clumsily fall off your front porch. They cry with you when you sit at your son’s grave and they rejoice when your son is baptized.

Being known in a community is like being a sweet part of a blanket that wraps you up in every way you need it.

So, when God calls you to do something new…to pick up those roots and go into the unknown…it’s hard. 

Heartbreaking even.
It means leaving the warmth of ‘being known’ in relationships and familiarity and of belonging somewhere and to someone. It’s like that cozy blanket you’re a part of unravels, and you’re being cut right out as the fringe.


The thought of being unknown is also scary. And so, I find rest in Psalm 139…"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar... You are familiar with all my ways."

God knows.
When we feel alone and unknown, we are ALWAYS known to the One who created us. He knows our joys and our pain, and our story is imprinted on His heart because it’s HIS story first.

No matter where we are or with whom we do our day-to-day life, we are always known to God.


So whether it’s in the same place you’ve been doing the same thing you’ve done for what seems like forever, or it’s the middle of nowhere with no one you know in sight, He knows you. He knows your heart and your pain and your worries and your joy.

And He is for you.
He’s still writing your story, and is the best Author there is.