By Rae Lynn DeAngelis
“To be or not to be… That is the question!”
This simple, yet, thought-provoking question can be applied to so many dilemmas of life:
- To be or not to be… in a relationship
- To be or not to be… in a new job
- To be or not to be… in cancer treatment
- To be or not to be… a parent
- To be or not to be… in college
- To be or not to be… a Bengal’s fan (still wrestling with that one, lol)
And then there this one…
To be or not to be… KNOWN.
I believe this is one of the deepest desires of the human heart, to be known, to be understood. But here’s the thing, to be known is risky business. Once people get to know the real us, they could reject us, or even worse, abandon us. If we allow others to see the real us, they might run for the hills and never look back.
Not long ago, I got very vulnerable with my ministry team and exposed some of the fears and doubts I was having concerning my ability to continue leading Living in Truth Ministries. I was feeling exhausted and wondered if it was time for me to close up shop.
Fully exposing myself in this way was risky! What if my team rejected me for having such thoughts? What if they abandoned me? Perhaps they would even validate my thoughts and feelings, agreeing that I really don’t have what it takes to be a good leader.
During the days leading up to my confession, the enemy whispered in my ear that my team would think I was weak and incapable. But that’s not what happened at all. In fact, when I exposed my deepest fears and insecurities to my team, they assured me that they respected me all the more because it made me more relatable to them.
The truth is that we all have fears and insecurities. But when we go around acting like we have it together, we place unrealistic expectations on everyone around us. They think we are something we are not. We need to be open and real with people. We need to expose the real us if we truly want to be known.
Sweet Sisters, it’s not only okay to be known, it is an absolute necessity for our overall health: mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. It’s downright stressful, keeping up the façade, appearing we have it all together. When we remove our masks, the most wonderful thing happens; we give others permission to do the same.
God created us in His image. He wired us with a desire to be known by others much like He has a desire to be known by us.
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity” (Jeremiah 29:13-14).
