Sigh.

A couple weekends ago I was in a situation, a large group of people, where I knew no one, except one person. The people were all wonderful I was soon to find out, and while I am not one who gets shy or nervous in a crowded room full of complete strangers, there was this one moment where I was sitting there and thought, “Ah yes. I don’t have any idea who these people are. And they don’t know me from Eve, either.”

It was in this moment, as I was with these people, not uncomfortable yet completely unknown, that the one person I knew walked into the room.
I have spent countless times with this person. We are close. I feel at home with them. They know who I am and I know who they are. Like really KNOW. As in I am not surprised by things that they do; I can see their actions coming and I am sure the reverse is the same.
So when this person walked into the room, it was almost as if home walked into the room. It was a sigh of relief. I found myself smiling from ear to ear, just because I saw them. We didn’t talk, not a single word. We just looked at each other, smiled, and moved on with whatever we were doing. It was like a moment of rest from the “unknowing.” With them I didn’t have to say anything, I didn’t have to give any information, they already “got” me.
What a relief, even for this girl who is totally fine in rooms of crowded strangers.

 This weekend I was in Duluth, Minnesota, for a dear friends’ wedding. I met up with another fabulous friend at the airport who was also travelling in for it and then we zipped further north together.

What a sweet time we had!

The night before the wedding everybody was running around and talking plans for the next day and making piles of things that still needed to get to the church. It was buzzing, and I suppose I was a part of the buzz.

When my friend and I got back to our hotel room that night, I was surprised that there again was that same feeling. The sigh. The “Ah, I already know you and don’t have to explain myself. We’re comfortable together.”
The next morning between all of the hair and makeup I needed just a minute to myself with the Lord.
And it was then it hit me:

He is the true Sigh of Relief.

Just like those other moments, all I needed was one quick verse, one simple prayer, almost like a “hello, there,” to bring my focus back. He brought me to center in like 12 seconds. It was one glance, one smile, and a handful of words.
But that was what I needed that morning. Simply the reassurance that when I am with him, I am not unknown. I don’t have to be somebody else because he already knows me.

 As humans, we have this desire to be known. We look for it through all different means. Relationships, status, friendships, fame, popularity, etc. We want people to know who we are. Sometimes it drives people to madness or depression or  to doing crazy things just to get someone to see them, hear them, know them.

Isn’t it great being a Christian? Because we don’t have to buy into the madness; we don’t have to run the race to be seen and noted and on a list of Who’s Who. Why? Because we are already on the list. God’s list.

It says in Psalm 139:1, 3b O Lord, you have searched me and you know me…you are familiar with all of my ways.

Or what about Matthew 10:30 that says, “Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Now come on! Who, but Someone who is madly in love, would care enough to count the hairs on your head?

Nobody.
Nobody else wants to know you that much. Nobody else loves you that much.

Wolfies, if you are one of His, you are known. Rest in that fact today. He loves knowing you, and he wants you to know him, too. Go love the One who loves you.