Knowing vs KNOWING

I think if you’re honest, we all know that there is a difference between knowing and knowing. What I mean by that is I know a lot of people, I don’t know them in the same way I know my brother and my family. 

I know about a lot of things, but I don’t know about them the same way I know about my job. I’m not a parent, so I may have information about what it might be like to be a parent, but anyone who is a parent will tell you the truth that I know nothing about parenting.  

We are looking at what it means to have an authentic relationship with Jesus. That our world is looking for the real and we have that real thing. 

The way we really know something is to experience a relationship. Which means, to authentically, without our faith, we need something more than just knowledge of God.

This is a big question: how do we know God? 

The first Samuel chapter 7, there’s a story of God’s people. The art of the covenant has been removed from their possession as their hearts turned back to the one true God they desire to have it back.

So they go to the prophet Samuel, who caused them all together. He prays for them. They repent and turn their hearts back to God.

Ultimately, they are victorious through God’s supernatural provision. From the story, I see people who came to know God truly.   

For them, and in our own lives, this does not happen by accident. We truly know God when our faith shapes our actions and we make sure to remember God’s power.

So how do we know God? First, we choose to trust. Notice in this story, the first thing that Samuel has them do is choose to trust God. 

They repent, pray, and sacrifice before God restores what is broken.  

Trust always inherently means there will be risk. For anyone who is married, you know this to be true. The deep level of trust and intimacy that comes with a healthy marriage requires that both parties be willing to risk. You have to risk your security. There’s emotional risk involved. 

Here God’s people are operating in faith because knowing God means relying on Him. If you have an authentic faith, we have to be willing to go broke betting on God.

Trusting God, or knowing God, means living in faith now for what we believe God is yet to do.  And yes, it is true that God does not always work when we want it like we want it, but we still choose to trust Him. 

I have an authentic faith; we need to know God. We see an incredible example of what to do if you want to know God in first Samuel, chapter seven, verse 12. 

“Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” - Samuel 7:12 (CSB) 

After God delivers His people, what do they do? They make a marker of the moment. They make sure that they will remember.

So often in our lives, what happens when God moves it, we forget that it was God. We start taking the credit. I want to challenge you to create a rhythm of remembering what God has done in your life.

I could share so many stories in mind of ways that God has worked and moved in impossible ways. 

If we really want to know God, we need to take time to remember what God has done. This reminds us of His power and His character. 

We choose to remember what God has done because it reminds us who He is. 

So do you want to know God? You can get to know Him. Start living in faith now, trusting in Him, and He will reveal Himself to you. Then set up remembrance for yourself of what He has done in real life in a life of others. And you will truly know Him.