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We Want To Know and Be Known

Have you ever known you know someone, but you didn’t know them all at the same time?

to know and be known

I’m sure this happens to every one of us and it happened to me the other day. 

I greeted someone in our church and, as I shook his hand, I knew that we had some kind of connection. There was something familiar about him but I didn’t know what. 

There was one time I was in a mall and spied a person from my church. I went up to him and said “hi”. And though he said “hi” back to me, I could tell he didn’t know who I was. 

This man had been in our church for years!  

Later I found out that he didn’t recognize me because he had only ever seen me at church and in a suit. The context was all wrong for him and, though he knew me, it just didn’t compute with him at the time. 

Well, it was a similar kind of setting for me the other day. I could tell by looking at this man’s eyes that this was not the first time we had met. He recognized me, but right then and there I just had no idea who he was.

What made it worse was that there was no time at that particular moment to try to explore our previous relationship. I just had to go back to my seat to wonder and ponder who this man might be. 

Nothing came to me. 

Then I got up to preach and, every time I looked his way, there was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t figure it out. 

My brain was working like one of those TV crime show identification computers. You know the scene: they get a picture of a suspect, pinpoint some markers on his or her face and then run it through their database. All the faces flash repeatedly on the screen until they get a hit and they identify the criminal. 

That’s what was happening to me on the platform, only there was no hit. The computer wasn’t turning up any useful information on this guy. 

My only hope was to do investigative work the old fashioned way. 

After the service I saw him standing in the foyer with his son. I went to shake his hand again. This time I could tell he knew that I didn’t know who he was, so he mercifully told me his name. 

And then the computer in my brain got a hit and all his information came rushing into my memory banks. 

… I really need to get my old computer checked out; it should work a little better than that. 

What made it more embarrassing to me was that ours was not a quick meeting or greeting that we had had once upon a time – I’ve had this man speak in our church on two occasions! 

But once the connection was made, it was amazing how familiar he seemed and how our conversation flowed because we knew each other. 

Here’s the thing: In a world of 7.5 billion people, you might expect that you are not much more than a number to God, that God really doesn’t know you that well. In reality, God knows everything about you. And you can be sure that He will never have a time when He knows He knows you but doesn’t know you at the same time. God knows you right down to the hairs on your head; He knows you intimately. Make sure you know Him in the same way. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What can you do to become more familiar with God? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Don’t Know What I Should Do

I’m sitting here this morning unsure of what to do.

don't know

Last night my car got rear-ended. It wasn’t a big hit; there are no aches and pains resulting from the jolt.  

But the guy who hit me doesn’t want me to report it … he doesn’t want the demerit points.  

There’s a big part of me that wants to be nice and make it easy on the guy. But there is another part of me that wonders if I will be screwed over if I don’t report it and go through the regular channels.

If the accident had have happened on a weekday, I would be getting an estimate right now and calling the guy, asking how he is going to pay for it all. But it’s the weekend and I don’t think I’m going to find a collision shop that’s open.  

Plus, I am going away for a couple of days at the first of the week and that will delay an estimate even longer. 

I’m thinking time is of the essence. I have to know if this guy is going to pay for my car to get fixed or if I need to just report it and have the insurance worry about it.

As it is right now, the latch closes on the trunk but it doesn’t lock. The screen on the dashboard constantly shows a picture of the trunk being open.

I don’t want to be mean, but I don’t want to get left holding the bag, so to speak. 

I think I will try the dealership where I bought the car to see if someone there can give me an estimate of the cost. Then I will visit the guy who cuts my hair – he’s a real car guy. I’ll get him to take a look at it and see if he has any advice.

Other than that, I really feel in limbo right now. I’m a little nervous about waiting too long if I am going to report the accident. And I’m nervous about trusting this guy to come through.

He seemed so matter-of-fact about everything – like he’d done this often and it’s no big deal.

He said he was sorry but it was one of those sorries where you see the lips moving but are not sure there is any genuine feeling behind them.

It was almost like this was an inconvenience to him, and he wanted to wrap things up quickly so he could get to whatever he was going to do.  

In reality, there wasn’t much inconvenience to him at all. I doubt that there was any damage to his vehicle. He was driving a Jeep with big bars protecting his grill.

All the inconvenience is mine. If I don’t report this and he jams on me, this will be way beyond an inconvenience. I really need to make the right decision today.

Here’s the thing: Many times we act like the guy who hit my car. With sin, we are the ones at fault, but we act like it’s no big deal, and that it’s just an inconvenience to us. In reality, it was an inconvenience for Christ to go to the cross to pay for our sin. When I say “inconvenience” for Him, I mean way beyond inconvenience – a million times more. So when we sin and feel like it’s a minor infraction, think again at what it cost Christ to rectify that minor infraction for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How would you assess your attitude to God when seeking His forgiveness? Leave your comments and questions below.

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You’ve Got To Know The Right Guy

Knowing the right guy is so important. When you need advice or expertise, being able to connect with the right person is invaluable.

When it comes to making or fixing things around the house, I’m pretty limited.

I can do a few things as long as they don’t involved sharp objects. I’ve just had way too many cuts on my hands to be comfortable with saws and knives. … Hey, I’ve even done some damage in the past with a screwdriver and I wouldn’t consider it a sharp object.

In the past week or so I needed some advice on the kitchen upgrade we are doing at home.

Let me say upfront, I’m not doing much on this one; Lily is doing most of the work, which involves a lot of painting.

But we were also getting a new kitchen counter and that meant we would have to disconnect the water to the kitchen sink for about a day.

There were no shut-off valves under the sink so I needed another solution … unless we wanted to shut off the water supply to the entire house for over a day … No!

The guy at the hardware store said I needed a converter piece to connect our old style pipes to the new kind of pipe and then add a shut-off valve to that.

Well, I bought all the parts and it came to about $52. I thought that seemed like an awful lot of money for 24 hours of water!

I mean, for that money, there was no ride I got to go on, or show I got to see, or course I got to play. It was just plumbing parts … pretty uninspiring.

After I bought the parts I had a few days before I had to shut the water off, so I just kept them all in the bag.

The day before I needed to shut the water off I decided to go to another hardware store to see if there was a simpler solution.

I showed the guy at the store a picture of my present hook up and he suggested a threaded cap.

It was basically a plug that screwed into the end of the pipe. It only cost me about $11 and about 10 minutes to complete the whole task.

He was the right guy to ask.

After the new counter was installed, we needed a piece of wood to span the length of the opening under the sink. It needed to be 1 1/8″ thick, and if you know anything about wood, that’s not a common thickness.

I went back to the hardware store and the wood guy was totally unable to help me; he had no solution for me.

However, the next day I was talking to a friend who works in construction and told him what I needed.

Without hesitation he said, “You need 5/4 piece of wood. You have to get that at…”  and named the supply house.

Again, knowing the right guy made all the difference in the world.

Here’s the thing: We experience a lot in life that we don’t have answers for. We come up against things that we are totally unprepared for. But no matter what it is, Christ is that guy who can help us in our need. So often we don’t go to Him first. Christ is the authority and expert; He is able. Go to Him before you look elsewhere for help.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need advice and help with right now? Leave your comments below.