Knowing God

Then you will know (Joel 2:27) 

In By Searching Isobel Kuhn recounts her move from borrowing the beliefs of her parents to knowing God for herself. It's a beautifully and simply told story of a young girl drifting away from God and then gently coming to a new and lively faith of her own. A single choice is at the centre of her start on a life fully committed to following Jesus. She is unhappy in her teaching job, to which she is not suited, and is scrabbling around for what to do. Her host gently explains that God has a plan for her life and they turn to the Bible for help. At this point, as the answer is made clear to her, she begins a new path that takes her much later to China as a missionary. The story focusses on the miraculous and unexpected work of God, but I suspect there is a deeper message. It's simply this. If we want the life Jesus promised, life in all its fullness, then we need to move from knowing about God to knowing God for ourselves, from second hand faith to first hand faith. The greater promise of Joel to the people of God then is not actually the second rains, the abundant harvest, or the restoration of the lost years. It is these words: 'Then you will know'.

As a young man I became chronically ill. It was a fairly unknown condition in those days, and it took a lot to persuade the university authorities that I was sick enough to warrant a year out, but I finally received a diagnosis of Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome. This is now known as ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis. It took me home and to bed. Towards the end of December that year I found myself alone at home on a Sunday evening. I could hardly bear the restrictions my condition had placed on me. I could manage about an hour's very gentle walk and one short sentence of reading a day. The rest was rest. I was understandably desperate to escape the prison of my illness and my thoughts were clouded with despair and anger. Then suddenly it seemed to me that my mind cleared and I was offered a choice by God, 'You can either be mine or get better'. It felt like the first free choice I'd had since I started to get ill a year before. As you can guess, I chose God. It was my 'then you will know' moment. I had learned to hold onto God above all else, and found that he held on to me.

It is not in ease or in plenty that we find God. It is not often in the glorious buildings or rich liturgy. Such things can become a barrier to knowing God because they disguise our second hand faith. They are the duvet of comfort and familiarity that hide the shallowness of our relationship with God, so that when we cry out our words are muffled and are never heard. God is found in the difficulties and struggles, in the sad losses and serious illnesses, in the hard choices. As we escape lockdown, let us avoid hiding under our old protection but be prepared to meet God in the raw, with honesty and courage. Dig into the Scriptures, ask the hard questions, made the difficult choices, challenge the comfort and complacency of lives lived apart from God. Then, says Joel, when God returns you to plenty and security, you will know that he is the Lord your God.

Spring growth in the herb garden