Have you ever had a feeling in your gut that you couldn't explain but was STRONG?
To this situation enter our word of the week: know.
Know a verb that means to perceive directly, to have direct cognition.
You know you'll get that job. You know this friend is meant to be a part of your inner circle, though you just met. You know your son or daughter is not in a lasting marriage. You know.
There's no way other to explain your confidence about a person or a situation than to say that you know.
I tell you this gut feeling of knowing is spiritual wisdom at it's finest. It's a gift of God. It's a helpful discernment tool if there ever was one for what to take on next and what to let go. It's a deposit of hope in your bank when hard times come (and they always do).
But knowing is a divine gift we so often ignore.
We say to ourselves, "Oh, how could I really?" Or "There's no way I should make plans in my life based on a feeling." Or, "What will people say if I do that?" It's so easy to make excuses or discredit our knowing.
But when we push knowing away, we miss out on God's leading in our lives.
A couple years ago I got a rejection letter for a workshop I applied to attend with the P.S. of "you're on the waiting list." I had applied to this opportunity with a great sense of knowing that this workshop was the thing I needed to do next to get a book project going. So, while it felt tempting to despair with the "we're sorry" email, I still knew it would work out (though of course my confidence didn't make much sense given my # on the waiting list). But, let me tell you, I kept my schedule clear just in case. And at the last minute someone dropped out and someone dropped out. There was a space for me at this amazing experience, and it was all that I hoped it would be!
I tell you this story not to say that your knowing always comes into fruition, but that sometimes it does. In due time. With patience. With an open mind.
Sometimes we have to wade through the waters of wait lists, rejection letters and unreturned phone calls for that moment -- that glorious moment when life falls into order and we can say: "I knew!"
Here's hoping you're able to trust your knowings this week. Know what you know what you know.
XO
Elizabeth
