If you need an opinion on a new hairstyle or how to handle your teenager’s behavior, do you turn to a stranger or to a friend? Who would you trust with a prayer request or an embarrassing incident?
It’s a no-brainer. We trust the people we know.
Knowing God makes it easier to trust God. Author Alicia Bruxvoort says, “Trust doesn’t sprout in the absence of doubt. It grows in the presence of relationship.” If we know Him, we trust Him (Ps. 9:10). It’s a direct correlation. The bigger the trust factor, the more intimacy is required. Conversely, the more we know Him, the easier it is to trust Him. Is God a stranger to you? Is He an acquaintance, a friend, or a close friend? Your spot on this spectrum will indicate your comfort level of trust.
I realize that “knowing God” is a popular church phrase that we liberally throw around, but what does it mean in practical terms? Simply put, you take Him at His word.
This is the same method that we use to know people. My husband doesn’t like onions at all, not lying on a burger or floating in a stew, not sprinkled in a sauce or in anything you chew (Sam-I-Am). If you hand me an onion casserole and confidently predict my husband’s delight, you will be wrong. I know he doesn’t like them. Why?
Because he told me.
It’s the same reason I know that my son likes to sleep with a flat pillow and that my neighbor is obsessed with cats. My understanding of them comes from their personal assessments and when that’s contradicted, I quickly raise an eyebrow and quip, “That’s not who he/she is.”
The same principle applies with God.
God states He will provide for you, give you purpose, be your shelter. The question is, do you take Him at His Word, or do circumstances hijack your understanding of Him? Knowing God means that you pipe up when life appears to contradict His Word. You stand on what you can’t see in the face of what you do see and say, “That’s not who He is.”
This situation is too big for Him.
That’s not who He is (Matt. 19:26).
There is no way He could forgive me for ___________.
That’s not who He is (1 John 1:9).
He is not in control anymore. He has forgotten me.
That’s not who He is (Ps. 139:16).
Nothing good can come from _________ in my life.
That’s not who He is (Rom. 8:28).
Circumstances can be just as convincing as someone boldly assuming that her onion casserole will thrill my husband’s palate. Remember, though, circumstances can quickly change!
It is extremely difficult to physically look at a situation and see it through eyes of faith. That is where our rubber meets the road. We either believe what God says about Himself or we don’t. Know this: God’s description of Himself does not and will not include circumstances. Why? Because circumstances change, and He doesn’t.
Oh, to trust Him more…
Don’t let your circumstances dictate your understanding of Him. Make a list of who God says He is and stand on it, especially in the face of uncertainty.
Let the One who doesn’t change dictate how to respond to what is always changing.
