Giving Up The Known For The Unknown

Known: recognized, familiar, or within the scope of knowledge

Unknown: not familiar

Who in their right mind gives up that which is familiar (known) for the unknown? But I believe that is exactly what God has been asking of me.

In our staff meeting this past Tuesday, my Boss did a leadership lesson with us. There were math problems involved which freaked me out a little. Okay, actually a lot. I'm not the best at math. It takes me a while to do the problems. There were two exercises: one with addition and one with multiplication. Addition could be thought of as tasks and the multiplication could be thought of as people. It was a great lesson on leadership. But at the end of it, there was only one thing that stood out to me. These two words...KNOWN and UNKNOWN.

These two words were haunting my thoughts all week. I talked to my mom and told her about the leadership lesson. My only real thought to say was that I cling to the known. I like to know what is going on. I hate change. I like to control things. I like for things to stay the same. I'm a sucker for stability and consistency. Not that either of those two things are bad, but they are definitely safe. I don't like adventure, unless I can control it. I just want enough for the thrill and then I usually stop or go back to my old plans.

The unknown is scary. I can't control it. I have no idea what will come next. It's not stable. Or consistent. It's a movement.

When I cling to the known, I am shorting God what He rightly deserves. Today's message was about Loving God: Our Quest for Lasting Satisfaction. Jeff Getz asked us two questions during the Next Steps. I was halfway listening while I was working on something out in the lobby. Then as he began the second question, he told a story about this guy and girl who worked for the same company. She was a great employee. She was very responsible, always on time, never forgets anything. Jeff said, "You know, she's like Maria." Well, hello! My ears perked up and I stopped what I was doing cause any time someone says your name from the stage you take notice. So the story proceeds like this...

She noticed this guy at work who had been there as long as she had, but he never got promoted. He moved around within the company. Always having new jobs. He arrived late and would leave early. She thought he wasn't responsible. He didn't have his act together. But he was cute. Over time, they met and fell in love. After a while, he asked her to marry him. A few days before their wedding, she pulled him aside to confess something. She had been saving up money, $12,000 to be exact, and she never told him. She was afraid he wouldn't be responsible with the money. She was holding on to what she thought she knew. He proceeded to tell her that he too was holding something back from her. He blindfolded her and drove her around the neighborhood so she wouldn't know where they were going. When he pulled off the blindfold, they sat in front of the building where they worked. He hadn't been honest with her. He proceeded to tell her that he owned the multi-million dollar company that they worked for. He decided that no one would tell him what was really going on if he was the president. So he chose to work in the different departments so he could see for himself who were the leaders and figure out what was best for the company. Of course, he got to work late and left early. He owned the company, no one would fire him. He told her this was all hers as well. Now the $12,000 she had been holding onto looked silly. She was clinging to the known.

I sat in the lobby of our UWS Gathering fighting back tears. God didn't just use Jeff to tell His story. He reached out and called my name. "Maria, you are this girl. This is your story. Don't you want what's best for you?"

I would love to say that right there on the spot, I said "Yes, no more known for me!" I didn't, but I have begun to fight this battle. One day at a time of giving up the KNOWN for the UNKNOWN.