The Lord knows us; He is ALWAYS near!

An auto mechanic in the hospital was chatting nervously with his surgeon while being prepped for an operation. “Sometimes I wish I’d gone into your line of work,” he told the doctor. “Everything you doctors do is so cut and dry and tidy. With me, I spend half a day taking an engine apart and putting it back together, and it seems I always have a couple of parts left over.”

“Yes,” said the surgeon. “I know the feeling.”

Don’t go to that doctor!

In our life we might feel as though God is like that mechanic or doctor. We think that God made everything, and some things are really good, but when it comes to us, we think that maybe God forgot a few things.

Maybe He made us with the left over parts.

Nothings could be further from the truth. When God made you, He had a plan. You are exactly what He wanted.

When I met Kristen I knew that she was the one for me. I dropped everything in my life and pursued her. She didn’t make it easy, but over time I won her over. I can remember one night I was dropping her off at her dorm and she told me that she had something to give me, but she had to go up to her room to grab it. Well, I thought for sure that it had to be something bad.

She had finally figured out that I was a loser and she was going to break it off with me. She came back with a card in her hand and told me to read it after she was gone. Now, this REALLY made me think it was over and she just didn’t know how to tell me in a nice way.

The card was the sweetest card I’d ever recieved. She wrote about how thankful she was that we were together, and how great she thought I was. I remember thinking, “Man, I’ve got her fooled!”.

Thankfully, after 20 years, she now knows who I really am and she still chooses to stay with me.

God KNOWS us. EVERYTHING about us. Nothing is hidden from Him. We can’t put on our best behaviour and hope He doesn’t see our mistakes.

Even with all our problems what does the Bible say about what God thinks of us?

Look at the questions asked in Psalm 8

Psalm 8:3–4 CEV

3 I often think of the heavens your hands have made, and of the moon and stars you put in place. 4 Then I ask, “Why do you care about us humans? Why are you concerned for us weaklings?”

God created the entire universe, and yet the Bible tells us about God’s plan to dwell in our hearts. He has a desire to be near to us! He knows us!

No matter what you’ve gone through in your life, no matter what mistakes you’ve made, God wants to be with you.

You might have questions about why God has allowed certain things in your life. There are pains, hurts, trials that we’ve all experienced. That’s because this world is evil. People are evil. They do bad things. There are consequences for sin. God can’t tolerate sin. He will punish sin.

BUT that doesn’t change the fact that He loves you. He wants a relationship with you. He’s made a way for us to be with Him.

I love Ps 139. I can remember in the 6th grade I memorized this scripture for the very first time. My Bible memory teacher had a way of saying these verses that have stuck with me. It’s a powerful portion of scripture that reminds us of God’s love, grace, and mercy. It will give you Hope today.

Psalm 139:1–10 NKJV

1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.

What is life without Jesus? It’s empty, hopeless, fearful, and constantly searching for something to bring peace or comfort.

Each one of us could tell a story about how Jesus came to us - not how WE came to Jesus, but the story of how He came to you. Maybe your story is unfolding today. Jesus might be calling you today.

But there was a day when we were seeking our own pleasure. We weren’t seeking the Lord; He came to us and offered us HIS righteousness in exchange for our filthy sin.

It’s hard to comprehend such amazing grace and love. We are blessed with a God who despite KNOWING who we are still chooses to love us.

Psalm 139:1–2 NKJV

1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.

He has searched our hearts; there is nothing hidden from God. He knows our good days, as well as, the bad. He understands the joy and the pain we experience. He knows where we have been and where we are headed. He knows when we have a heart to serve Him and when we are rebellious.

Hebrews 4:13 CEV

13 Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth.

We were all evil and undone, sinful and lost. We may have been pretty good people, who could dress up and go to church, but we were lost.

It thrills my heart to know that God knew I was a sinner who had nothing to offer Him in return, and yet, He offered me the riches and hope of heaven through Jesus Christ His Son!

Jesus looked down through the portals of time and saw a sinful little boy, lost and undone, in need of a Savior. He came for me! I have never gotten over that. God knew me and yet He loved me! Who am I that a King would bleed and die for? Who am I to receive such grace and mercy?

Psalm 139:3–4 NKJV

3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

When God saves us we become a new creation, transformed by Christ. That transformation is immediate; we can never be lost again, but we still have sinful tendencies and desires. No matter how hard we try, we can’t be perfect. We are weak and many times we give in to our selfish desires.

Verse 3 tells us that God is acquainted with all our ways.

Jesus knew us when He saved us and He knows what we will become. He is patiently working in our lives.

There is a concept in that compares our walk with Christ to a winnowing process where grain is thrown up into the air to separate the husks from the pure grain.

With hands of love Jesus allows the winds of life to remove the things that hinders us so that I become more like Him.

I can remember a song we used to sing in Sunday school:

“He’s still working on me, to make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth and Jupiter and mars. How loving and patient He must be; He’s still working on me.”

Jesus doesn’t throw us away when we make mistakes. After all, He KNOWS us! There’s not a word that forms on your lips that Jesus doesn’t know about. What happens in a life of a surrendered child of God is a rebirth, a regrowing, a maturing that takes time.

He looks beyond the sinful, marred outward appearance and looks at the heart. He sees the potential in our lives through Him, and works to bring His likeness to the surface!

We aren’t given a license to sin - no way!

1 John 3:6–9 CEV

6 and people who stay one in their hearts with him won’t keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don’t know Christ, and they have never seen him. 7 Children, don’t be fooled. Anyone who does right is good, just like Christ himself. 8 Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done. 9 God’s children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power lives in them and makes them his children, so that they cannot keep on sinning.

As we grow closer to the Lord, our desires change. It doesn’t mean we aren’t sinful, but it does mean that we grow out of habitual sin.

There is a difference between committing sin and practicing it…Sin will be a consistent struggle, but it should not be an unchallenged habit. Essentially, unchallenged sin, or habitual sin, is the practice of sinning, without remorse, without conviction, and fighting.

If we got what we deserved we would all be in hell right now, but Jesus doesn’t focus on our sinfulness and rebellious spirit. He sees a child of God, born again, washed in the blood, holy and pure because of His sacrifice.

Our lives should now be lived as a reflection of that grace poured over us. We should lay aside the weights of sin and run to win the race!

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the Lord is patient with me. He has never failed to receive me with open arms when I come short, no doubt greatly displeasing Him. All I have to do is seek forgiveness and cleansing, and He always restores me.

Psalm 139:5–6 NLT

5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

David stood in awe of such a merciful God.

God goes before us and behind us - what does that mean?

God has us protected from behind and in the front. He is protecting us from the troubles and trials of yesterday as well as those we will face in the future. We will face adversity, but not alone - He is with us!

And if that isn’t enough the hands that hung the stars in space, the hands that created man from the dust of the earth, that were nailed to that Roman cross, are covering us.

Think of the image of God’s hand of blessing on your head. That’s an intimate picture of our relationship with Him.

Praise God we are secure in Him. I don’t know what we’ll face tomorrow, but I know it isn’t big enough to remove us from the hand of God.

We owe EVERYTHING to Jesus. Hardships will come, yes, but God is still worthy of our lives.

Isaiah 43:1 CEV

1 Descendants of Jacob, I, the Lord, created you and formed your nation. Israel, don’t be afraid. I have rescued you. I have called you by name; now you belong to me.

We can claim this promise too because we are grafted into God’s family. We belong to Him. Isn’t He worthy of our lives?

Psalm 139:7–10 CEV

7 Where could I go to escape from your Spirit or from your sight? 8 If I were to climb up to the highest heavens, you would be there. If I were to dig down to the world of the dead you would also be there. 9 Suppose I had wings like the dawning day and flew across the ocean. 10 Even then your powerful arm would guide and protect me.

David was a man of war; he had faced much uncertainty in his life. He was constantly on the move, defending himself from the enemy. He had known great victories and suffered great losses.

In EVERYTHING he faced, God was always there.

This is a promise we must understand. God is not a genie who is available to grant our every wish. He is the MOST HIGH God. His plans go beyond our understanding. We must trust Him no matter what comes.

Like Job who was tested in ways we can’t even imagine, we must say that God is still God and I choose to trust Him and worship Him no matter what comes my way.

Job lost his wealth, children, and health but he never accused God.

Job 2:9–10 CSB

9 His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

We cannot escape the presence of our Lord. Every child of God has the Holy Spirit within their heart. I may get to place in my life that I feel God has left me, but He is always there. I don’t know what you are facing today. You may be walking through a dark valley. You may feel that you are all alone, but God is there. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

We certainly don’t deserve to have the presence of God in our lives, but the fact remains that He knows us, and is always near.

There is a promise we can claim:

Psalm 46:1 (NLT)

1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

We can count on God in times of sorrow while in the valley, in times of joy on the mountain, and all the uneventful times in between. He is there when we lay down at night and He is there when we wake in the morning!

We should praise the Lord for all He’s done in our lives to redeem us from the curse of sin, death, and eternity separated from Him.

Psalm 139:14 CEV

14 and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt.

Are you struggling in the journey? Does it feel as if you are alone, forced to endure the difficulties of life without any guidance or help?

If you are a child of God, He is there.

If you have never been saved, you do not enjoy the presence of the Lord and His abundant blessing. I have good news though.

You can begin a journey with the Lord right now if you will come to Him by faith. If He has spoken to your heart, come as He leads!