Nice to Be Known

I had an interesting experience today going to our local Burger King. I often go inside there to eat in the mornings before going to the grocery store to keep me from buying things out of hunger. I always order the same thing and the staff knows that.

Today as I got out of my car and started entering the building, I saw three of the staff, including their manager, hurrying around to get my order on a tray before I got up to the place where you place your order. They were giving each other high-fives and laughing and I laughed with them and said, “It is nice to be known.”

Thinking about that experience while eating, I reflected back on the greeter at our church. He has been the greeter on that door for over 50 years. Every time I walk up to the door, he makes me feel like I am special, and he is so glad to see me. It is nice to be known.

All of this has made me think about how deeply God knows each of us. Selah, one of my favorite music groups, has a line in a song, “You knew me before there was time.” Have you ever thought about that? Our Heavenly Father knew every person that has lived or will live before He created time. That thought is overwhelming.

Psalm 139:13 says, “You created my inner most being. You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” Our Father made us just the way we are. Our gifts and abilities, or lack thereof, were His design from the beginning.

Thinking about that brought me to one of my favorite, but challenging, verses in Scripture. The story of Jesus’ healing of the man born blind in John 9:1-41. The disciples asked Jesus what caused the blindness, and His answer was, “This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” This man was totally blind the first part of his life so that God could use him the rest of his life as a witness to the healing power of Jesus. Every person that knew him before he was healed could not deny what had happened to him. People may say God would not put someone through that. Scripture clearly says He did.

Our Heavenly Father knows each of us deeply and has created us to be His witness through whatever life brings us. We all have had and will have challenging things in our lives. I had polio at the age of 5 and have very little use of my right arm. My issue helps me have compassion for others. God uses what He has allowed in our lives to make us who He needs us to be. Knowing that He knows me like that makes me say with peace and confidence, “It is nice to be known”.