Knowing God

Getting to know Him

Prayer is a powerful way to learn to trust in God. So is reading and studying scripture. The Bible is one long story about how God acts in our lives. From the beginning in the Garden of Eden to today, it is the story of our salvation. There is overwhelming evidence of how much God loves us, starting and ending with the often-quoted John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.” That love encompasses all people for all time, no matter what you may think. God sent his son for you because he wants you to have the gift of eternal life. And there is no better gift. Reading scripture puts into perspective our part in the story of salvation. When you read Exodus, you are reminded of when God called you out of bondage, purified you in the desert, and led you to freedom. Hosea teaches what faithfulness looks like, and Job reminds us that even those who love God have trials.

 Why the Word?

 “The prudent man trusts in the word of the Lord, and the law is dependable for him as a divine oracle,” Sirach 33:3. If you were to go to Bible Gateway and put ‘trust’ ‘trust in God’ ‘Trust in the Lord’ in the search engine there would be a total of 263 references. There is probably some overlap, and I didn’t check for synonymous words or phrases; either way, we can agree there are many scripture references to trusting God. He wants our good more than any person on this earth. Think of someone who loves you and desires your peace and happiness; maybe it’s a parent, spouse, or best friend. Put that one person’s face in your mind and allow yourself to see you as he or she sees you. Pretty wonderful, huh? Now multiply that by oh, I don’t know, infinity. What they see in you, how they want good for you, God wants it multiplied by infinity. If we want to trust God, we must know him. And to know him, we must spend time getting to know him. In prayer, of course, but also in his word. There is no substitute for reading scripture. God reveals himself to us but also builds us up, guides us, inspires us, and strengthens us with his word. When we know his word, we can rest in it. I don’t mean you should know every book with chapters and verses for every need. I don’t, but I know the general idea of what I am looking for and can look it up. I sometimes need to look up favorite verses to find the book, chapter, and verse. I consider it more important to know the verse. Then, I can depend on the words, as Sirach says, without knowing exactly where they came from. 

Memorize a Verse 

Do you find it hard to memorize things? I do. My husband changed his phone number years ago and I still need to look it up if I give it to someone. While we could argue that I don’t need to remember the number since I have it in my phone, there are cases where it would come in handy. Scripture is the same thing. Yes, you can look it up; why now you can even look it up on your phone! But wouldn’t it be helpful to have a few verses tucked away in your mind to pull out when you need them, for yourself or someone else? I think so. Find the verses that are meaningful to you. Those that seem to jump off the page when you read your bible and stick with you through the years. For me, some of those are Revelation 3:16, Hosea 6:6, 2 Timothy 1:7 and Psalm 17:8. Find your verse, the one that reminds you to trust in God and memorize it. Let it be your touchstone when you are afraid, your peace in anxiety and your strength in weakness.