Knowing God

11/04/2004

I heard a guy interviewed on Larry King Live the other night. He was telling Larry about the four months he spent in prison. He said it had been good for him, it gave him time to think, to get to know who he was--but he said he would rather have spent those four months in a cabin in Montana. I had to laugh, since I am in an RV in Montana for a few weeks.

Am I getting to know myself here? Not really, it doesn’t seem that “I” am any great mystery at this point in my life, but what I am enjoying doing here is getting to know God better. It seems I started out believing in God many years ago, then I moved from that to believing God because I was desperate. I could no longer just believe in something, I had to pour my whole heart and soul into a Truth that made sense to me. Now I’m being drawn to know God, in an even deeper way.

How many of us will do that? We will casually believe in God, believe in some “force” or “power” that is higher than us until the day comes when that force or power is put to the test in our lives. Then we turn to it, looking for all that it contains, and we find out if it truly can be something we can believe and hold onto through our desperate situations, whatever they may be. Some find the one true God in those moments, some turn away from the one true God, seeking other gods that seem to satisfy for the time being. I don’t know why some go one way and why some go another, I only know my own story. I know that when I needed to hold onto something that I could trust, God alone was the hope I found, and I dove in head first believing all His promises. I have not been disappointed.

Now I sit in my “cabin” in Montana for a few weeks, and it seems it’s time to move on. It’s time to not just believe in God, and not just believe God, but to truly know God. As I was thinking about that while here, I started thinking about the things that I know. I know I am a mom, a daughter and a wife. I know that I am ___ years old! Okay, 47! I know that I live in an RV and that I have two married sons, and one son who is no longer living on this earth. I could fill volumes with the things that I know about my life, things that I do not question. There is no need to question those things that are known to me. I don’t get up every morning wondering about them, doubting them. I don’t ask myself each day as I get out of bed, am I still a daughter, do I still live in an RV? I don’t even ask myself if the sun is going to rise today. I know it will, because I have never lived a day yet that it has not. Even if I can’t see the sun because it is buried behind dark clouds, I know that it is still there.

How do I know these things without question? Because I live with them every day. They are a part of who I am, what I have experienced in life, and the way the world works. So why then, have I questioned God when I rise in the morning? Why would I question His care for me on a particular day, or even if He is with me? Why would I fear that He might not have my best interest in mind for the day? Why as human beings do we struggle with knowing the very One who created us?
Is it because we don’t believe in Him? Not always.
Is it because we don’t believe Him? Perhaps.
I think it is because we don’t know Him as we should.
As He would like us to. As we were created to.

Did Adam and Eve ever question that they knew God? I mean He walked with them and He talked with them in the very beginning, every single day. I doubt there was much question as to whether they knew one another. If anyone else had been on earth at that time, and they had asked Adam or Eve about their relationship with God--had they ever met Him, did they really know Him? They would probably have looked at them like they were crazy? Of course they did! There was no doubt in their mind as to who God was to them and His love and care for them!

For example, I don’t walk around with my best friend every day because we live thousands of miles apart, but we talk almost every day and I know her! There is not a question in my mind that I do. I may not know her every thought, but I certainly know her as a person. I know that I can trust her and that she is there for me. I don’t get up every morning questioning her loyalty, or if we are still friends. Even if a day or two or three goes by that we don’t talk, I know the minute I turn to pick up the phone and dial her number, she will welcome my call, and visa-versa. We don’t struggle in this relationship, because we know each other too well for that. We have established a relationship that doesn’t collapse under pressure, that doesn’t waver in good times and in bad. It is human, it is not perfect, but we don’t doubt what we know, we are best friends.

How about God? How about His Son Jesus? And how about the Holy Spirit? How well do we know the Trinity that created the very earth we live on and gives us the very air we breathe?

In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God,
and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created
everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life
itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone.
John 1:1-4 (NLT)

Considering that God created everything there is, and that life itself is in Him, wouldn’t it make sense to get to the bottom of who He is, if at all possible? To know our Creator so intimately that we don’t have to get up every morning questioning if He really does exist, if He really does care, if He really has our best interest at heart? After all, He is the One directing our steps for the day!

The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Psalm 37:23 (NLT

My child, listen to me and treasure my instructions. Tune your ears to
wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and
understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden
treasure. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you
will gain knowledge of God. For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth
come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of good sense
to the godly. He is their shield, protecting those who walk with integrity. He
guards the paths of justice and protects those who are faithful to him.
Proverbs 2:1-8 (NLT)

You see, we complicate life so, so much! We complicate God, we complicate salvation, we complicate God’s plans for us. Why? I’m not really sure, but I think what we forget is that, “This is a football.” My brother and I were discussing that very subject when we gathered for the last wedding in our family. We had fun talking about, “This is a football.”

I love the game of football, especially a good Raiders game, of which there has not been many lately. I don’t understand all the intricate rules that the refs have to know. Some of those calls must come out of a book five inches thick of instructions… when this happens, it means this, but if this is thrown into the mixture, it means that. But you know what? That’s not my job! My job as a fan is to enjoy the game. I see the football on the field, I see it hiked, I see the quarterback perhaps go back for a pass, I watch it in the air, I watch it hopefully caught by my team as they run it in for a touchdown… I am happy.

Being that I’m not an expert on many parts of the game, as many other fans are, I don’t even know what play is being run. I don’t have to. I don’t know all the names of the guys on the line, or even all their numbers or stats. I don’t know who’s been traded in what round, or even who else might have been open down field that the quarterback could have thrown to. All I have to know is, “This is a football.” All I have to do is keep my eye on the ball, and I can understand the game enough to enjoy it from beginning to end, especially when the score is tilted in my team’s direction!

Now think of being a believer this way, “This is God.” That’s all you need to know. Keep your eye on God, through the whole game of life, watch Him, enjoy Him, get excited about Him, get involved with Him, cheer Him, even boo Him sometimes if you need to, but keep your eye on Him! He knows all the rules. He has all the wisdom. He has all the understanding, good sense, knowledge and hidden treasures we are seeking in this life. You see, anything we need in this life comes from Him. When we know Him, we will know that!

He is the Creator of all things, He is in control of all things, He is the source of all things, He is the “Football.” Without Him, there is no “game.” There’s just a bunch of people running around on the field of life misdirected and being coached to do things that won’t matter because we can’t score a touchdown without the “Football.” The game doesn’t make sense without the football, and the game of life doesn’t make sense without God. 

But we forget! We forget, “This is a football” and we take our eyes off of it. We can believe in other things all we want, but if we’re playing the game of life without God, those other things won’t do us much good. We can believe we have the football, but if we don’t… no touchdown. We need to keep our eyes on God, then we know we have Him, and the game is on!

Here we are in life, up against a line of big, ugly, 375-pound linemen, ready to stop us in our tracks—better known as our enemy, Satan! He and his team can take us down faster than a speeding bullet, but along comes God! Big, Powerful, God!!

This is what the Lord says: “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains.
I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. And I will give
you treasures hidden in the darkness—secret riches. I will do this so you may
know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.
Isaiah 45:2-3 (NLT)

God doesn’t just know our number, He knows our name! And He goes before each one of us, down the field of life, making a way where there is no way. And as we are running down the field, there are so many treasures to be discovered, so many secret riches waiting for us! So many things we will miss if we take our eye off the “Football” and try to do this life on our own.

Why do we need to remember the simple fact that, “This is a football?” Because if we forget, then we forget that God is God and we start to complicate what is not complicated. We then lose our peace. God wants us to know Him, to remember Him and to follow Him in life, for our own good!

May God bless you with his special favor and wonderful peace as
you come to know Jesus, our God and Lord, better and better. As
we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need
for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and
goodness! And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his
rich and wonderful promises.
2 Peter 1:2-4 (NLT)

When we’re running down the field with our eyes on the football, God calls us to “receive” it. Then when we leap over the white line into the end zone and score a touchdown in our lives, the glory we receive is “His own.” We get the “atta boys” and the applause from the crowds, but if we are wise, we will be one of those players in the game who points up to the sky and gives the glory where it belongs! Back to God! If we are wise, we won’t complicate the issue with how well we played the game, the strategy we used to make it all happen, the training that it took to become a great player--we will remember that without the Football it is all for not, and we will give thanks and praise where it is deserved! Heavenward!

According to some people, there are many so-called gods, and many lords,
both in heaven and on earth. But we know that there is only one God, the
Father who created everything, and we exist for him. And there is only
one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything, and through
whom we have been given life.
1 Corinthians 8:5-6 (NLT)

Do you know another reason why life gets so complicated? Because we throw too many fake footballs out onto the field to play with. Then we never know which one is real, and which one will have us running in the wrong direction. We throw our jobs out there, and chase after them. We throw our lusts out there, and chase after them. We throw money, and homes and cars and even food onto the field, and think it’s the “football” we have been looking for. We get so many footballs flying around, we don’t know the game football from all the fake ones, and then we start to prioritize the fake footballs as if they have something to do with the game, when they do not. They are merely distractions. We need to zero in on the one true Football, and run with it, focus on it, and know it without a doubt!

How do we get to know the real thing, from the fake? How do we distinguish the false religions from the one true religion? The false gods from the one true God? The only way we can be sure we have the right “football” is to know it, and the only way to do that is to not take our eyes off of the Truth found in God’s Word once we have found it. We must eat with it, sleep with it, walk with it, run with it, hold it so close that nothing can get between it and us, and then when other footballs are thrown around on the field, we won’t have to question whether we have the right one because the real one has never been out of our sight since we found it. We will know when we finish the game, we have the winning ball!

This may all sound silly, but sometimes we have to break down the huge pile-ups on the field, peal them off, one by one, until we get down to the football and start again. That’s what this is all about, getting back to, “This is a football.” God knows we are children, He calls us His children, and He would not make the game so complicated that His children are left out, not knowing which way to go next. He simply says, “Follow Me, I’ll lead the way.” We’re the ones who start making up all these complicated strategies, forgetting how simple the plan of salvation really is.

We try to believe, but it can be so hard sometimes, and then we start to doubt. But we won’t doubt what we know. When we come to know God, we will simply rest in our relationship with Him like we would a good friendship. God wants us to know Him, above all else, for our own good, for our own sanity, and for our own eternal life.

Oswald Chambers says we have the “responsibility of keeping our spirit in agreement with His Spirit... paying no attention to any other thing.” (Mar. 18th My Utmost For His Highest)

The only way to know if we are in agreement with someone else, is to know them, and know them well. When we know God, and we know that our spirit is in agreement with His Spirit, we can rest knowing the game is won, the victory is assured.

I want to believe in God, and I want to believe God, but most of all, I want to know God. I want to rest in our relationship with one another so that the confusion of life seems but a slight inconvenience along the way towards eternity.

I may not know how God is going to work things out, but I want to know Him well enough to know that He will, and He will have my best interest at heart.
I may not know where my next meal is coming from, but I want to know my Provider so well that I can wait and see with confidence and in high expectation of what will be placed before me.

To know God, it will only cost one thing, time.
Is that too high of a price to pay? If it is, then we’ll be chasing other footballs our entire lives, always doubting the plays we’re running and the goals we’re headed towards. We won’t enjoy the game, not one bit, because we will constantly be worried if we’re doing the right thing, listening to the right calls, teaming up with the right players?

Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.”
It isn’t up to us to win the game--the game has already been won. What we do here on earth will not change the final outcome. Jesus is coming back, and those known to Him are on His team. Our only job now is to know Him and be known by Him.

We will spend hours watching TV, hours at work, hours at the gym, hours reading various books and hours socializing with our friends doing all the things we enjoy. That is all part of the game, God is not denying us any of that, He simply wants to be involved in our lives each day. Is this too much to ask from the very One who created us, forgives us and has promised us an eternity in heaven with Him?

Take a look at your game plan and see where the “Football” is on your field of play. If you left it in the locker room while you’re running around out on the field wondering why the game seems so complicated, take a break, head back to the locker room and pick up the very thing you need most. It isn’t hard, all you have to remember is, “This is a football,” and start with that.

When God is tucked in close to our hearts, then it’s “Game on!!”

Diane