To Know Him

Pastor, The Rev. Dr. Albert F. Campbell

Daily Prayer

"Please God put your arms around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth"

TO KNOW HIM

Submitted by Minister Joyce Woodson

Imagine a Christian walk that is so close to Christ that you no longer ask Him what His will is for your life. Imagine a will, a life so surrendered that you no longer wonder what God is going to do in your life. What an amazing walk it must be to have your will melt so completely into His will that you are one with Him! Just think of the awareness of a life so intimate with Christ that one could utter the words, even from our cross, "Not my will but thine be done" for every aspect, large and small, of your life. What a Blessing it must be to walk, even in the dark, "surefooted", with clarity and assurance with every step!

Well, I began a journey on this pathway of thought at the beginning of the year. I was going through my "no less than" annual ritual of taking stock of my life and challenging myself to do better, to be better. I was questioning, with great expectation, what God had in store for me and what he would require of me for the coming year. Then suddenly, without warning, God spoke a new truth in my life. This Word pushed me off kilter and forced me to make a powerful paradigm shift in my thinking.

This new truth came by way of reading my daily reader called "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. In it he said, "You do not know what you are going to do;the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing." This statement, so simple and yet so profound resonated in my soul and changed me. Oswald's words began a new work in me, challenging me to change my attitude of worry and question to one of trust and confidence in God. Chambers asked, "Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do; God tells you who He is."

Then I began to think that this is the kind of attitude described in Matthew 6:25 - 34, where we take no thought for tomorrow; but instead live life with the belief that God is the God we know Him to be. He is the miracle-working God, the God who has plans for us, the God who knows our needs before we ask, the God who fights all of our battles, the God who protects, heals, brings peace, speaks comfort, leads, guides, loves, saves! Oh, to walk in that confidence, so much so, that we can surrender each day to him and allow God to surprise us without reservation!

I thought of Job and all of his suffering. Without losing his faith he asked the human questions, why and what? God spoke out of the whirlwind and answered Job by telling him who He is! "Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? Who laid the cornerstone thereof? Who shut up the sea with doors..? (Job 38:1 -8) God continually tells us to be still and know that He is God. He continually tells us to rest in Him.

Someone asked the question after a sermon by Pastor Campbell on Philippians 3:14, "what is the prize that we press for? I submit the prize is To Know Him. The prize is To Know Him in the power of His resurrection. The prize is to be one with Him in sweet communion. The prize is to live a totally surrendered life. Oswald challenges us to "...go out of our experiences, creeds, convictions, until so far as faith is concerned, there is nothing between ourselves and God." I Corinthians 13:12 tells us "...for now we see through a glass darkly... but then shall I know even as I am known." Since this is so, To Know Him fully must be Heaven, but to walk so intimately with Him now that there is nothing between our souls and God, must be Heaven here on earth!