Jesus knows you exactly

550 jesus knows her exactlyI suppose I know my daughter very well. We spent a lot of time together and we enjoyed that too. When I say to her that I understand her, she answers me: "You do not know me exactly!" Then I tell her that I know her very well because I'm her mother. That made me think: We do not know other people very well - and they do not know us, not in the deepest part. We judge or judge others easily as we know them, but do not even consider that they have grown and changed. We pack people into boxes and seem to know exactly which walls and corners surround them.

We do the same with God. Proximity and familiarity lead to criticism and self-righteousness. Just as we often treat people according to how we judge their actions - in line with our expectations - we also encounter God. We assume that we know how he will answer our prayers, how he treats people and how he thinks. We tend to get our own picture of him, imagine that he is like us. If we do that, we do not know him exactly. We do not know him at all.
Paul says that he sees only fragments of an image and therefore cannot see the whole picture: “We see now through a mirror in a dark image; but then face to face. Now I realize bit by bit; but then I will know, just as I am known (1. Cor. 13,12). These few words say a lot. Firstly, one day we will know him as he knows us now. We don't understand God, and that's certainly a good thing. Could we bear to know everything about him as we are now human beings with our modest human faculties? At present God is still incomprehensible to us. And secondly: He knows us to the core, even to that secret place where no one can see. He knows what's going on inside us - and why something moves us in our own unique way. David speaks of how well God knows him: “I sit or rise, you know; you understand my thoughts from afar. I walk or lie, so you are around me and see all my ways. For behold, there is not a word on my tongue that You, Lord, do not already know. You surround me from all sides and hold your hand over me. This knowledge is too wonderful and too high for me to understand" (Psalm 139,2-6). I am sure we can apply these verses to ourselves too. Are you afraid of that? - It shouldn't! God is not like us. We sometimes turn away from people the more we get to know them, but he never does. Everyone wants to be understood, wants to be heard and perceived. I think that is the reason why so many people write something on Facebook or other portals. Everyone has something to say, whether someone is listening to them or not. Anyone who writes something on Facebook makes it easy for themselves; because there he can present himself as he likes. But that will never replace face-to-face conversation. Someone can have a page on the internet that gets very frequent visits, but they can still be lonely and sad.

Living in a relationship with God makes us certain that we are heard, perceived, understood and recognized. He is the only one who can see into your heart and knows everything you ever thought. And the wonderful thing is that he still loves you. If the world seems to be cold and impersonal, and you feel lonely and misunderstood, you can draw strength from the certainty that at least one person is there who knows you very well.

by Tammy Tkach