He knows....
Two simple words that can seem so insignificant when you first hear them, but once you start really thinking about them and meditating on what they really mean, they become much much bigger and more important.
I was given these words by a very good friend here at YWAM Perth during a staff meeting that turned into a worship and prayer meeting. When he first said them to me, my initial reaction was, "Ya, I know He knows, I've got "He knows the plans" written on my chest in Hebrew to remind me of that, and it's because of that that I've been able to move to different areas in the South Pacific over the last year and a half and was able to commit to leading a bible school in New Zealand for 3 years without ever being at the base or knowing anybody there." So initially I just took it as a good reminder from God and didn't think too much into it.
Then I actually went and spent some time talking to the Big Guy, and that's when He reminded me what "He knows" really means.
For those of you who aren't aware of my backstory, or aren't aware of the latest developments, I'll give a quick synopsis of the last year and a half or so. In Sept. 2010 I joined Youth with a Mission and did a Discipleship Training School for 6 months in Matamata, New Zealand. After that I studied the bible for 9 months at the School of Biblical Studies in Taiwan, and quickly followed that up by staffing a 3 month Bible Core Course here in Perth, Australia to train me so that I can go lead the school out in Oxford, New Zealand. I'm currently in my last couple weeks in Perth before I will head back to Canada for a month before heading to Oxford at the beginning of May. The latest development is that while I was in my quick 3 month stopover in Perth, God decided to introduce me to an amazing Chinese-Malaysian girl named Grace, who I have been in a relationship with for just over 6 weeks, and who is committed to staying in Perth for the next 4 years. God is funny like that sometimes; just when you least expect it, He does something crazy.
So now that I've set the stage, you will be able to understand a little better why these two little words ended up having so much meaning for me.
I've obviously been thinking quite a bit about the fact that God has led me into a long-distance relationship over the last 6 weeks, and I've always known 100% that God will help us through the 3 years or so that we would be apart, and that I don't have to worry too much about it because if we are meant to be together, which we believe we are, that He will make it work. So you can understand why I didn't think too much about those words at first, because I thought that I already had that all figured out, that's when He reminded me that we never quite have those things figured out, and when we do think we have them figured out, we tend to forget the complexity and extent of them.
As I was praying and spending time with God, He reminded me that I keep saying that I trust Him and that I know that He will help us and will make it work, but I still would spend time thinking about the logistics of it: when will we see each other, how will it work for when I'm done my commitment in Oxford for me to come to Perth, how can I somehow do a school or something here for a season while BCC isn't running, and on and on. He reminded me that He is the one that brought us together, and that He had already thought of all those logistical things that I was worrying about because He knows.
When He spoke that to me, it was like a weight was lifted, and life was breathed into me. He brought us together, so that means that He probably wants us to be together, and since He knows that we will need to see each other (and would very much like to see each other), that means that He already knows how we'll be able to see each other, and since He wants us to be together again in the future long term, then He must have already figured out how that will work as well, and...well I think you get the point.
It was an amazing reminder that when we say we trust Him and when we say that we know that He knows the plans He has for us, we need to really trust Him and really believe that and not just keep spending time worrying about the logistics and how it's all gonna fit together and just continue to do what He is telling us to do and trust Him that He'll worry about it for us.
I don't know about you, but for me, this is AMAZING news!! After God gave me this revelation I was able to have an amazing time of prayer with Him where He spoke ideas and visions for the future into me, and I didn't even have to worry about them because I knew that if they are to come to pass, He will make it happen and He will figure out how they will happen and He will even show us how Grace fits into those plans as well. It is amazing when we remember that we serve an awesome and powerful God who put this world together for us, and it is even more amazing when we remember that He loves us so much and that He wants to see us happy and joyful and living life to the fullest extent with Him.
As I've been studying the bible so much in the last year, I've found it very easy to focus so much on the greatness and awesomeness of God that I sometimes forget that He is our loving Father who loves and cares for us more than we will ever understand and who wants to see us doing well and enjoying the life that He has given us. It is when we remember that and remember God's heart for us that we are able to live in a greater sense of freedom because of the trust that we can have that our Father is leading us and watching out for us.
So my encouragement to you and what I hope you take away from this is remember that God really does know and that He really does want us to prosper as we follow Him. I recommend spending time with Him asking Him to show you how you haven't been trusting that He knows, and ask Him to help you be able to trust Him in those areas. Something that also helped me was reading Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17, which gives you a glimpse into God's heart for His people. Another great reminder is to read Jeremiah 29 (the whole thing, not just vs11) with the mindset that this is God speaking to the people that have forsaken him throughout their entire history and have done so much evil that He had to finally send judgement on them and send them into exile, yet He still loves them and still cares for them and still has plans to prosper them. I love reading that chapter, and really, I love reading all of the prophets because of the amazing promises of restoration that God gives throughout them to His unfaithful people.
No matter what, I hope you will remember..... He Knows.
Two simple words that can seem so insignificant when you first hear them, but once you start really thinking about them and meditating on what they really mean, they become much much bigger and more important.
I was given these words by a very good friend here at YWAM Perth during a staff meeting that turned into a worship and prayer meeting. When he first said them to me, my initial reaction was, "Ya, I know He knows, I've got "He knows the plans" written on my chest in Hebrew to remind me of that, and it's because of that that I've been able to move to different areas in the South Pacific over the last year and a half and was able to commit to leading a bible school in New Zealand for 3 years without ever being at the base or knowing anybody there." So initially I just took it as a good reminder from God and didn't think too much into it.
Then I actually went and spent some time talking to the Big Guy, and that's when He reminded me what "He knows" really means.
For those of you who aren't aware of my backstory, or aren't aware of the latest developments, I'll give a quick synopsis of the last year and a half or so. In Sept. 2010 I joined Youth with a Mission and did a Discipleship Training School for 6 months in Matamata, New Zealand. After that I studied the bible for 9 months at the School of Biblical Studies in Taiwan, and quickly followed that up by staffing a 3 month Bible Core Course here in Perth, Australia to train me so that I can go lead the school out in Oxford, New Zealand. I'm currently in my last couple weeks in Perth before I will head back to Canada for a month before heading to Oxford at the beginning of May. The latest development is that while I was in my quick 3 month stopover in Perth, God decided to introduce me to an amazing Chinese-Malaysian girl named Grace, who I have been in a relationship with for just over 6 weeks, and who is committed to staying in Perth for the next 4 years. God is funny like that sometimes; just when you least expect it, He does something crazy.
So now that I've set the stage, you will be able to understand a little better why these two little words ended up having so much meaning for me.
I've obviously been thinking quite a bit about the fact that God has led me into a long-distance relationship over the last 6 weeks, and I've always known 100% that God will help us through the 3 years or so that we would be apart, and that I don't have to worry too much about it because if we are meant to be together, which we believe we are, that He will make it work. So you can understand why I didn't think too much about those words at first, because I thought that I already had that all figured out, that's when He reminded me that we never quite have those things figured out, and when we do think we have them figured out, we tend to forget the complexity and extent of them.
As I was praying and spending time with God, He reminded me that I keep saying that I trust Him and that I know that He will help us and will make it work, but I still would spend time thinking about the logistics of it: when will we see each other, how will it work for when I'm done my commitment in Oxford for me to come to Perth, how can I somehow do a school or something here for a season while BCC isn't running, and on and on. He reminded me that He is the one that brought us together, and that He had already thought of all those logistical things that I was worrying about because He knows.
When He spoke that to me, it was like a weight was lifted, and life was breathed into me. He brought us together, so that means that He probably wants us to be together, and since He knows that we will need to see each other (and would very much like to see each other), that means that He already knows how we'll be able to see each other, and since He wants us to be together again in the future long term, then He must have already figured out how that will work as well, and...well I think you get the point.
It was an amazing reminder that when we say we trust Him and when we say that we know that He knows the plans He has for us, we need to really trust Him and really believe that and not just keep spending time worrying about the logistics and how it's all gonna fit together and just continue to do what He is telling us to do and trust Him that He'll worry about it for us.
I don't know about you, but for me, this is AMAZING news!! After God gave me this revelation I was able to have an amazing time of prayer with Him where He spoke ideas and visions for the future into me, and I didn't even have to worry about them because I knew that if they are to come to pass, He will make it happen and He will figure out how they will happen and He will even show us how Grace fits into those plans as well. It is amazing when we remember that we serve an awesome and powerful God who put this world together for us, and it is even more amazing when we remember that He loves us so much and that He wants to see us happy and joyful and living life to the fullest extent with Him.
As I've been studying the bible so much in the last year, I've found it very easy to focus so much on the greatness and awesomeness of God that I sometimes forget that He is our loving Father who loves and cares for us more than we will ever understand and who wants to see us doing well and enjoying the life that He has given us. It is when we remember that and remember God's heart for us that we are able to live in a greater sense of freedom because of the trust that we can have that our Father is leading us and watching out for us.
So my encouragement to you and what I hope you take away from this is remember that God really does know and that He really does want us to prosper as we follow Him. I recommend spending time with Him asking Him to show you how you haven't been trusting that He knows, and ask Him to help you be able to trust Him in those areas. Something that also helped me was reading Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17, which gives you a glimpse into God's heart for His people. Another great reminder is to read Jeremiah 29 (the whole thing, not just vs11) with the mindset that this is God speaking to the people that have forsaken him throughout their entire history and have done so much evil that He had to finally send judgement on them and send them into exile, yet He still loves them and still cares for them and still has plans to prosper them. I love reading that chapter, and really, I love reading all of the prophets because of the amazing promises of restoration that God gives throughout them to His unfaithful people.
No matter what, I hope you will remember..... He Knows.
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