Known: To Be Known By, and To Know the Unknowable God

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

Psalms 91:14, NKJV

Like my father before me, I struggle with SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder. We SAD folks need sunshine, LOTS of sunshine. Living in a city that is cloudy 56-57% of the time during the months of January and February only serves to exacerbate SADness. Beginning after Christmas, a quiet inner battle for emotional peace and a deep yearning for Spring begins in my soul.

Brennan Manning stated in Reflections for Ragamuffins, “Perhaps this is the essence of trust: to be convinced of the reliability of God.” During some of my darker days, I wonder where my trust in God has gone. Do I know Him as I claim I do? Am I an impostor? It’s usually a fleeting thing, like briefly wondering how different life would have been if I had done a, b, or c. You’ve been there.

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Psalms 9:10, NKJV

Unknowable

Yet, for all the years of knowing God, pursuing God, longing for His presence, I am becoming acutely aware of how little I know Him. It’s so easy to fall into a trap of believing that the length of days one has been a Christian or been a faithful servant of Christ equal a depth of knowledge and wisdom said person has of the Savior. Even suffering doesn’t necessarily promise that God will be your new BFF, although it can certainly result in a closer walk with Him.

In the early years of our marriage, my husband and I had a pastor whom we secretly believed had the ‘red phone’ to God! I mean, he was so knowledgeable about the Bible and God; his sermons were so powerful…but then, well…the higher the pedestal the farther they fall, right?

People sit in churches every Sunday professing to know God but make a plethora of excuses for why they don’t have any other time to spend with Him. Christian authors, actors, small business owners, millennials, baby boomers from every denomination have something to say about knowing Him. It sometimes looks very different from what you or I think it looks like…

It often looks very different from what the gospel says knowing God looks like, too.

Unfortunately, one cause is due to thinking of knowing as in, “Oh yeah, I know her; she’s in my exercise class!” Or, “Sure, I know astrology! I look through my telescope at the stars sometimes.” This knowing is as in perceiving or understanding as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and with certainty; to be acquainted with, according to Dictionary.com. We can give a head nod to many things in life to which, or to whom, we are acquainted…even God the Father. You know, the “man upstairs.” (Cringe)

Known

But how many people do we know as in “yada“:

The idea of “knowing” in Ancient Hebrew thought is similar to our understanding of knowing but is more personal and intimate. We may say that we “know” someone but simply mean we “know” of his or her existence, but in Hebrew thought, one can only “know” someone if they have a personal and intimate relationship with them. In Genesis 18:19 Elohiym says about Abraham, “I know him” meaning he has a very close relationship with Abraham. In Genesis 4:1 it says that Adam “knew Eve his wife” implying a very intimate relationship. (Strong’s #3045)

Who knows you like that? People who can complete your sentences, but don’t. Or who read your emotional cues and know what to do…

Anyone?

Your Father does. And the incredibly amazing, unfathomable truth is He wants us to intimately know Him, too.

Scripture tells us that God’s greatness is unsearchable, beyond our understanding (Psalms 145:3). His understanding is infinite – we cannot comprehend it (Psalms 147:5)! Paul sounds forth praises exclaiming:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!

Romans 11:33, ESV

Know

Who can know a God like that? Ancient Greek philosophers and believers in Deism wondered, too, referring to God as the “unmoved mover” or a “clockmaker god,” merely setting things in motion, but never getting personal. It seems absurd, but then I wonder sometimes if we don’t live out what they wrote about.

However, throughout the Old Testament, the Father repeatedly calls Israel into an intimate relationship with Him. Among many other things, God goes so far as to make the prophet Hosea’s life a word picture of His abundant love and mercy, then promises that HE will heal their backsliding ways (Hosea 14:4).

Who can fathom that? Can you wrap your mind around that??

I can’t…but I don’t think I’m expected to fully comprehend, really. I know the love and mercy my Father has shown to me. With that in my heart, I run to the throne room. I run into His arms, believing Him when He said,

I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.

Hosea 2:19-20, ESV

And on the days I struggle, He holds me.

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

Yet, for all the years of knowing God, pursuing God, longing for His presence, I am becoming acutely aware of how little I know Him. Click To Tweet