God Knows & He Cares

We’ve all probably heard the old saying ‘People don’t care what you know till they know that you care.” There is a tremendous amount of truth in that saying that we have all probably experienced at some time through our interactions with others. But can I tell you that this saying has an interesting twist to it when it comes to God. The Bible encourages us in the fact that we are to take great encouragement in the fact that God both knows us and cares for us.

David marveled that God knew him even better than he knew himself—“Even before there is a word in my tongue, behold , O Lord, you dost know it all’ (Psalm 139:4). Isaiah calls us to be awestruck at God’s great knowledge of everything—“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable” (Isaiah 40:28). 

Yet they both realized that such incredible knowledge of us allowed our sinfulness to be revealed to a holy God and should result in Him not desiring to know us—“Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). He knows every bad thought, sees every mistake, has every flaw magnified under His gaze, and is acquainted with our full potential to do wrong. Yet the Bible states that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7), promises to let us find Him when we seek Him (2 Chronicles 15:2-4), and guarantees that He will provide all of our needs (Philippians 4:19).

In a world where we are not always sure that we will be accepted when others get know us intimately (‘to know me is to love me’ is not always the case), it is important to know that God both deeply knows us and cares for us.

Here are 3 ways we can respond to this great truth:
1. Daily seek a greater level of surrender to the Lord for He not only knows who you are now but also knows a greater path for you to be much more in the future (Jeremiah 29:11).
2. Stop throwing yourself pity parties when you mess up. His mercies are new every morning so have recommitment parties (Lamentations 3:22-23).
3. Don’t let your challenges or failures define you for God knows your flaws and deeply cares for you anyway (2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:17).

God Knows Better

There is nothing more frustrating than leaving out an important ingredient, part, or step in a process. There is a reason why a recipe calls for a specific amount of sugar or baking powder. Yes, all the parts included in the box are important to putting together that item. Cleaning an area before applying a substance will make a difference in the process. The frustration is even greater when we make a choice to withhold that item and wonder what could have been the result with a different choice.

An area in which this commonly occurs is the area of our walk with God. Jesus addresses this in Matthew 6:33 where He taught us to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” This command was a contrast to what we typically try to do—carry the burden (stress) of what we want to occur and then seek what seems best for us. When things don’t turn out right we then cry out to God for Him to make up for what we left out of the process—His direction. But the verses that lead up to verse 33 give us some important reasons to ‘seek first.’ In these verses we read that God truly knows what we need (6:32) and that He is more than capable to provide for our needs based on His provision for the rest of His creation (6:25—31). A key way in which we accomplish this command is through prayer.

So, are you going to God first to let Him inform you of your true needs, and to then provide those needs to you? The key is not to complete the task and then wonder what could have been. Pray first.