To Know And Be Known

To Know and Be Known

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

Proverbs 27:17

It may seem that it would be impossible to be lonely in an Amish community. The Amish neighbors who live closest to you also attend church with you. Their children attend school with your children. Every local activity involves folks whose faces and personalities are familiar to you and your family. Yet people aren’t the cure for loneliness. One of my loneliest moments was at a convention where I was surrounded by five thousand other women, all very similar to me. My loneliness came from being surrounded by bodies but not being seen or known. Sometimes loneliness comes from just being one of the crowd.

But when we invite people into our lives, loneliness begins to erode, like a message scribbled in the sand near the ocean. The people in our lives come and go. We either let them approach and wash away our loneliness, or we put up a seawall and hold them back from us. Sometimes we’re afraid to let people get close because we’re afraid of what they’ll think when they discover our real selves. But no one is perfect, and in fact, friends can help us become better people. As our lives rub against the lives of others, our rough edges begin to be smoothed away.

If you’re feeling lonely, ask God to show you any walls you need to take down. If you feel as if no one cares to know the real you, think of someone you’d like to connect with. Take a look at the people around you, and take the first step in knowing and being known.

Dear heavenly Father, sometimes I feel as if no one even sees me. I’m so thankful that You do. You have brought others into my life to give me benefits I cannot gain on my own. Desiring to be known involves opening myself to change. Please give me the courage to do that.