Saturday, June 20, 2009

How Well Does God Know Us?

There are such a lot of Bible passages that explain just how well God knows us, and how much He loves us. He knows our thoughts, our coming and going, how many hairs are on our heads (Matthew 10:30)...and yet, I have often felt that when He was telling those who read His word over the centuries, He was talking in what I would call "crayon talk." That is, they only knew the visible, they didn't know anything about cells, or genes, or the "human genome" that most of us today have heard of but only a handful might claim to understand well. I think God was telling people of all generations in a fairly amazing intimacy how well He knows us--but I think He was saying it only in terms they could understand, while He knows us far and away much better than that.
So I was thinking of some questions I am convinced that God knows the answers to about every one of us--and it's a fun thing to ponder, when you think about how He truly is omniscient.
He knows, of this I am convinced, about all of us, without having to ponder or count on His fingers:

1. Your human genome in detail, just what each portion represents, and if you were able to ask Him how many of each molecule it contained, He would immediately be able to answer.
2. How many red blood platelets you have coursing through your body at this moment.
3. Who taught you that wierd expression you come up with when you are puzzled.
4. Why you pronounce "orange" the way you do in one context, and another way in another.
5. How many worksheets you filled out in 3rd grade.
6. How many paperclips you used in 10th grade.
7. How many times you used "I never" in any sentence in 1983 (substitute another year that works for you).
8. The date that you first thought about God.
9. How many times you tripped over your shoelaces.
10. The reason you do or don't like parsnips--just what molecule or other thing it is that makes your tongue go bananas when you taste them.
11. Why you have that scar on the inside of your left ankle.
12. How many moles you have.
13. How many times you've thought that you hated someone.
14. How many crushes you had in kindergarten.
15. How many times you clipped your left big toenail in 2004.
16. Where that ring is that you brought home from the dentist when you were 6.
17. How many times you have said any word that has 4 letters in it. Just what those words were, even if they weren't swear words.
18. The name of all your grandmothers 44 generations ago, and how many times each of them sneezed during their lifetimes. (Just 8 generations back, you have 256 grandmothers...I was too tired to go back 44 generations and figure that out, but I assure you, it's a lot.)
19. How many water molecules you've had to drink that were also drunk by the donkey that talked to Balaam.

Of course, the list could go on forever. I just thought I'd get you started. Whatever item it is on the list, God knows it already, even if He didn't expect the Israelites to understand modern-day scientific lingo. Well, just so you know, I'm not telling the whole story. God did make it pretty plain that He knows us well. Read Psalm 139:
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,"
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day
Darkness and light are alike to You.
For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
When I awake, I am still with You.
O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.


See, the Israelites knew we all have hair, and many of us have quite a bit--and the number changes as we go through each day, since some 80 hairs fall out every day and some of those grow back. So that's amazing enough, for our human minds to comprehend. Still, no matter how much we know God knows us, and according to Psalm 139 He knows what our thoughts and words are and where we go to hide, and what we looked like before we were born, we still have a tendency to think we can hide anything from Him, or that He's not paying attention to us. It isn't that the things I listed are foremost on His mind, but if asked to recall them, He would be capable of doing so. His thorough knowledge of us in terms of life in these days was just an additional thought I was pondering as I was trying to go to sleep, and I knew I'd sleep better if I blogged it so you could think about it too.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

1 comment:

Lavonda Pflug said...

So much to think about here! God knows us better than we know ourselves. And still He loves us. That is what I find remarkable.
Enjoyed reading your blog. Feel free to stop by and see me sometime at What's Up.
http://www.writeforhim.blogspot.com