Knowing is half the battle
Here’s the question, “do we really know what we have?” I mean, do we understand the fact that we have within our reach the very Words of God? Here it is plain and simple. I mean, this is truly where the rubber meets the road. We know God by His Word. John puts it this way, he says that “In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.” See, God and His Word are the same. If we could grasp the fact that God and His Word are synonymous, we would move far ahead from where we currently stand in relation to the possibilities that exist for us. We know God by interacting with Him, or as John puts it, interacting with His Word. This is no different than the relational bond between friends, husband and wife, or any other relationship. The only difference is that we interact via the written Word as opposed to a person to person interaction. Trust grows in a relationship when each party involved in the relationship “knows” the other person. This “knowing” of another individual doesn’t just happen, it is accomplished by work over time. The more time we spend with an individual, the closer we become, and, the more knowledge about them we acquire. Just the other day, when I enrolled my kids in school, I listed someone other than a family member for an emergency contact. This was the first time that I had ever done this. But, because of the time that I had spent with this individual, I knew that I could trust them with the safety of my children. That is saying a lot! I knew that this person would drop whatever they were doing and help if my kids were in danger. My “faith” in this person was a direct result of “knowing” this person. I had “faith” in this person based on what I had found out about them through a consistant interaction with them, and I knew that they would keep their WORD and help me if I ever needed it. Wow, this is exactly how our trust grows as it relates to God’s love for us. When we know God, we know what He wants for us and we don’t have to wonder if He cares, is concerned, or will come through for us. Here it is as plain as I can put it…We can’t trust God if we don’t know Him. Better get to reading!
