Overview:
Shewanda Riley, author of "Love Hangover: Moving From Pain to Purpose after a Relationship ends," shares her experience of networking with other journalists and the importance of being known by God. She encourages people to write down eight things that they need God to do, which can be a powerful way to make themselves known to God through faith. Riley emphasizes that God knows us through our faith and integrity, and that it's not what we know or who we know, but who knows us.
When I first moved to Dallas-Fort Worth nearly 30 years ago, I did my best to network with other journalists. I went to meetings of the National Association of Black Journalists whenever my schedule allowed to make those valuable professional and personal connections. Once, however, I was a volunteer mentor with the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists’ Urban Journalism workshop and heard a profound statement from the workshop director, Cheryl Smith.
When the students asked her about the importance of networking, she had one simple response: It’s not what you know or even who you know, but who knows you. Then it hit me that I had been going about networking wrong. What I had previously looked upon as a time to meet the movers and shakers so I could say that I knew “so and so,” should have really been spent allowing them to know me. People will recommend you for a job when you have a solid recommendation from someone else who knows you and your work. It’s not always because you say you know “so and so.” It’s mostly because the other person can say that with confidence that they know you.
Cheryl’s advice applied to job searches, but I also see how this could also apply to our spiritual walk. We sometimes say, “I know God” because we go to church or listen to gospel music. But I think the most important thing we can say is whether God knows us. Galatians 4:9 says in the New Living Translation, “So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?” Other scriptures like Jeremiah 12:3 “Yet you know me, Lord; you see me and test my thoughts about you” and Psalm 139:1 “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me“ describe how God seeks to have an intimate connection with us through our emotions and spirituality. Being known by God means that we don’t just settle for the commonplace or compromise in our spiritual lives.
One time, I heard Elder Eric Copeland of San Antonio encourage those attending a worship service to write down eight things that we needed God to do. He joked that it shouldn’t be things that we could do ourselves, like lose 20 pounds. He repeated that these things needed to be so big that only God could do them. We then had to believe in faith that God would do them. By writing the list, we were then making ourselves known to God through our faith.
The question remains: If asked to describe you, what would God say? Would God say that He knows you? Would he say, “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place the face. The last time I saw them was at their grandmother’s funeral in 1991. Or would he say, “I know her well because she lives a life of integrity and faith.” Job, though he was tested by Satan, was known by God because of his faith and integrity. Likewise, we know God through love, but he knows us through our choosing to have faith in His word and His promises.
Shewanda Riley is the author of the Essence best-seller “Love Hangover: Moving From Pain to Purpose after a Relationship ends.” She can be reached at lovehangover@juno.com, at www.shewandariley.com or www.anointedauthorsontour.com