Have any of you guys ever thought to yourself, “If this certain person just knew this (quality, accomplishment, etc) about me, I feel like it would spark a heightened sense of appreciation, love, or admiration (depending on the context) into our relationship”? Maybe you’ve had this thought in a dating relationship, with a family member, close friend, teammate(s), or teacher. The thought that, if (insert person) knew (insert quality) about me, it would repair or heighten our relationship to something better, more enjoyable, more admirable—because then, the other person would be able to see me more fully for who I am. And it is completely natural to feel that way—in fact, we all want to be more fully accepted, approved, admired, and esteemed simply for who we are. And I think that serves to highlight the reality that humanity’s greatest, most fundamental needs are 1) to be fully known 2) to be fully loved—especially at the same time.
But in recently feeling the ache to be fully known and fully loved resonate deep within my heart, I experienced a shocking realization when the ache was turned outside of me and, instead, directed upon the heart of God for me (and us, for that matter). The question no longer became “If this person just knew this about me, I feel like it would spark a new sense of appreciation, admiration, or love into our relationship”; rather, it turned from a voice that asked of others for my behalf into a voice that asked of God for the behalf of our relationship: “what are the things that You, Lord, can’t wait and desire for me to find out about You—because You and I both know it will spark a refreshing and more lasting sense of vitality into our relationship”.
On that note, I think it is important that we ask the Lord to show us more of who He is daily and hourly by His Spirit, through His Word, and through what we experience in our everyday life with friends, family, work, leisure, music, health, sickness, joy, pain, learning, excitement, and routine.
It’s so important for us to know that there is so much we can learn about who God is everyday—for He is infinite, and infinite is not subtracted from or exhausted in the least. And the more we come to know, the more we become “transformed into the image of His Son” because beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus doesn’t ever leave us unchanged (2 Co. 3:18).
I like to think of our relationship with the Lord to how we perceive the ocean, in that while we can only see so far, there is so much more beyond what we cannot see; we can only see the surface, but there are unfathomable depths beneath that gleaming blue expanse!
And so the only thing we can do is stand by the shore, in awe and thankful that this God has been made close to us through Christ, and that we can sit, take in, and revel in the fact that there lies untold riches and beauty whose waves bountifully roll to the shore of our limited knowledge everyday, anew. In light of this, the peace that comes flooding into the heart is inexplicable and undeniable—as is the depths of the ocean in front of us—and its tides lovingly pull us into deeper and deeper fathoms of this grace. And what else shall we do, but point and say, “who is like you, Lord, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders (Ex. 15), whose ways are higher than our ways, and whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Is. 55), and “who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number” (Job 5)?
Truly You are a great God who stirs the affections of those who by the Spirit have seen and experienced “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6).
Let’s move closer toward the shores—the end of our paths and the beginning of God’s depths—to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).
