REAL SATISFACTION comes not in understanding God's motives but in understanding His character, trusting in His promises, leaning on Him, and resting in Him as the Sovereign who knows what He is doing and does all things well—Joni Eareckson Tada.
AT A YOUNG AGE, David understood certain things about God.
He knew that God stood by His people and that He could do it again if he had done it before.
So when the king told him that Goliath had been a warrior from his youth, he said, "God who saved him from the lion and the bear would save him from Goliath." (1 Sam. 17:37)
He understood that God was powerful enough to fight his battles, but in some situations, God would use men.
When Goliath mocked the armies of Israel and God, he knew he had to do something (1 Sam. 17:8-25).
ABRAHAM understood he had to do something when God told him to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
He left home with his son for Mount Moriah, the place of sacrifice.
When all he had were the wood and the fire, he told his son that God would provide him with a lamb—and God did (Gen. 22:8).
Abraham understood that God knew what he was doing.
MOSES knew God was up to something when he appeared to him in the burning bush (Exod. 3:1-17).
He trusted in his promises and leaned on him.
No wonder when Israel longed for God's wonders, Moses sought his ways and tried to understand God's character.
He prayed: If I have found favour in Your sight, let me know Your ways so that I may know You [becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, recognizing and understanding Your ways more clearly] and that I may find grace and favour in Your sight (Exod. 33:13).
FOR YOU to know God, you must ask him questions. To understand Him, you must spend time with Him.
Abraham asked God what would you give me, seeing I go childless? (Gen. 15:2-3)
Mary asked how this would be, seeing I am a virgin (Luke 1:34-35).
KNOWING GOD is not the privilege of a few. It's a call to everyone.
Paul understood this well. He said, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:12)
God calls every child of His to a personal and intimate walk -- a call to a deeper life.
To know God, you must spend time in His Word.
NO ONE can grow in understanding God except by spending time in his word.
David said: Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you (Psalm 119:11).
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
You cannot know Him without reading His Word.
FOR YOU to know God, you must spend time in worship.
When you have a Bluetooth speaker, you synch your phone with it so the speaker can receive whatever is coming out of your phone.
Worship helps you synch your spirit with the Holy Spirit so you can receive from God.
It gives you access to God and gives you a sense of awe. Your reverence for God grows in worship.
Worship helps you enter God's presence. So when God comes in His glory, you can receive from Him.
Prayer helps you know God.
AS YOU worship God, your faith increases. The bigger your faith is, the more you'll pray to him.
Communion occurs in prayer. You experience the nature of God as you pray.
The bigger the image of God to you, the more you want to spend time with Him in prayer.
Prayer helps you grow your understanding of God.
YOU CANNOT understand God without His Spirit.
John 14:16-18 describes Him as the Comforter and the Spirit of Truth.
He is called the advocate and teacher in John 14:26. He will teach you everything.
No matter what you do to know God, the Holy Spirit ties everything together. He shares the heart of God with you.
So you can't know God except by His Spirit.
When you pray in the spirit, he helps you pray the heart of God. He makes you effective and efficient in prayers.
Final Thoughts
WHEN YOU come to know God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him.
And He shows much more of Himself to some people than others—not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition.
Just as sunlight, though it has no favourites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as in a clean one — C.S. Lewis.
Thank you for this great reminder. Knowing God is liberating. A walk with him is by building a relationship with him by reading his words, worshiping him and praying. He covets a relationship with us. Let us hive him a chance and watch him change or lives.