Monday, May 16, 2011

You Know...

Yesterday I sat in the service at church and there was a time of prayer when we gathered with those closest to us and began to pray for the missionaries we are associated with.  A couple, who are members of our church, were sitting behind me and I couldn’t help but overhear their prayers because of the proximity in which we sat.  As the husband was praying a beautiful prayer, he uttered a line that I have said hundreds of times and I have heard others say as well.  It hadn’t hit me the same way it did as when I heard him say it.  He was praying about a missionary friend overseas who could not relay the situation but asked for prayer from our church because of various situations that had arisen and she felt a great spiritual struggle going on.  So my friend prayed, “I don’t know the situation…but You do.”

I don’t know the situation…but You do…

I don’t know their names…but You do…

I don’t know exactly what is going on…but You do…

They haven’t shared what is going on in their hearts, so I don’t know…but You do…

I can tell something is wrong, and I don’t know what they’re going through…but You do…

My friend prayed this with confidence, he felt assured that the situation would be taken care of even though he didn’t know at all what it was about.  Why?

Because He knows.

He knows.

He does?

This is one of those subjects that I know that I know, but I do not know that I realize it.  I don’t understand the magnitude of it.  I pray that phrase even, but do I believe it?  He is all knowing?  

I often teach that faith is not like math.  It isn’t a subject that you understand and can process the formula and you have a complete understanding of it.  Faith is organic and must flex and grow (not necessarily compromise) and must become real.  I wonder if an all knowing God had become more like math to me than a reality of faith.  

Imagine that.  Go ahead take a second, think about it.

I know the struggles I have faced in my life.  The times I have cried out to God, knowing He understood MY issue and was my only source of help.  I knew that because I am a Christian, I believe in Him, He hears me…but He knows all…even those who do not believe.  

He knows their struggles.

All of them.

The world is rapidly approaching seven billion people.  The statistic is somewhere around fifty thousand people die each day from the result of poverty.  There is much pain, hurt, despair, and depravity in this world, and He knows.  

Some may say that is kind of dark, because He knows and some believe He does nothing.  He has done much (see Inequitable Compensation).  We, who are His believers, are to be His “doing” (see James 1:21-27).  If we look at the end of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and the first few chapters of Acts, we can see that his plan was for us to US to go and spread the word to the entire world.  Because He knows, do we see why He is so imperative in His command and it was more than just a mere suggestion?  We must spread the Word!

How?

He knows.

So maybe we should be working on listening a bit, maybe we should strive to make it more of a priority.  Then again, maybe it is more about me doing that better.  Maybe I should get better about taking my instructions from the One who knows everything.  

The all knowing God, this is a great subject to sit and ponder…just let it sink in a bit.  If you have a couple of minutes today, get in a quiet place and just try to absorb this subject a little.  

An all knowing God, knowing the needs of the world, communicating that to the people who know Him, directing and equipping them to the needs of the world.  All this while He meets our needs in the best way, because He knows.  They may not be met the way we want them to be met, but, once again, He knows better.

It is powerful, and may just change our perspective on a few things.  

A Deeper Look @ Omniscience



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