Whitney Houston had a hit song in 1985 called, “How Will I Know?”
Here’s some of the lyrics:How will I know if he really loves me?
I say a prayer with every heartbeat
I fall in love whenever we meet
I’m asking you what you know about these things
How will I know if he’s thinking of me
I try to phone but I’m too shy (can’t speak)
Falling in love is so bittersweet
This love is strong, why do I feel weak?
As believers walking with a God infused life, our journey can often seem nonsensical and even mystical to others. God gives us freedom of choice but we must rely on our communication with Him and not a physical tactile voice when making our daily choices. Doubt creeps in often not knowing if we are hearing His voice or the voice of our own selfish needs and desires.
When Jesus walked the earth and was physically present His own followers were clueless.
There were several times in the Bible when Jesus instructed His followers on His purpose for being on earth and what was to come. Examples can be found in Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:17-19, Mark 9:30-32, and Luke 9: 22-27. In these scriptures He repeatedly tells his followers how He would be rejected, tortured, and would hang on a cross to die, and then be raised up from the dead. Yet, as the Bible states in Mark 9:31 still “they didn’t understand.”
What they were hearing didn’t make sense it was just too unbelievable. Even after His death and resurrection Jesus had to stop His followers on the road to Emmaus and remind them of what prophesy had said about Him, and how He Himself had fulfilled it in Luke 24: 13-35. Then it wasn’t until He broke bread and demonstrated to them physically that their eyes were opened. We all are guilty of being a “doubting Thomas’” at some time in life. We have to touch before we believe.
However we forget easily too.
From the very beginning of our existence Satan confronts us with our pea size memory. Look at how he manipulated Eve in Genesis 3:1. He asks her a question to cause her to doubt. We need to be wise in how manipulative questions can cause us to think of things we might never have thought of and lead us astray from right thinking. In a world overwhelmed with media and messaging coming at us in gargantuan amounts, it gets overpowering. Forgetfulness also comes from our lazy disregard of what matters. We get distracted with small insignificant issues allowing our brains to get cluttered with pettiness.
It’s why right choices matter more than ever.
We must be diligent in leaving our legacy of faith with our children and grandchildren. We must retell over and over again how God has been trustworthy. We need to tell them often how God’s love, mercy, and power has been infused into our lives, because it’s in the demonstration that others learn how to make courageous supernatural choices. Our lives lived by faith provide them with a physical example of the unseen mystical and approachable God.
How will they know if God really loves them?
Here’s a few of God’s promises that can be depended on that I found to be trustworthy in my life from God’s Word:
God’s love never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8.
He’s reliable. He will never leave or forsake us. Hebrews 13:5.
His is eternal. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Revelation 1:8.
God’s truth will set us free. Even in uncertainty and chaos God’s peace transcends. John 8:32.
Do you fall deeper in love with God when you engage with Him?
Absolutely. God’s greatest desire is that we know Him and that He knows us. We can’t get by with a “phone it in” relationship with Him. We have to engage regularly.
Proven research has shown dramatic results when you engage personally with Him four or more time a week. It’s why I wrote my devotional Hope 4 Today: Stay Connected to God in a Distracted Culture.
Finally, God tells us that when we are weak He makes us strong. Paul tells us in II Corinthians 12:9-11, that the “weak are made strong” when we are willing to engage with Him regularly in prayer and in the Bible. Paul shares his journey and discovery on why and how this mystery of God is believable in Ephesians 3:1-13. We will know Him and we will know His unexplainable love.
Now I’m asking you? Do you really know Him? Don’t waste another second.
