Winter 1999
Knowing God
By Nancy Warner

"Deep calleth unto deep. At the noise of Thy
waterspouts, all Thy waves and Thy billows
are gone over me." Isaiah 42:7

I am coming to understand on a deeper level the fact that “the desire of the Lord” is to be known. There is a need within Him to share His heart, even as there is a deep desire within us for someone to really know us. We received this desire from the Lord, as we are created in His image.

I love my son and I enjoyed every minute of his childhood as we had fun together. I very much enjoyed my times of being with him, but today through the process of years, there has come the development of a relationship where we can now share on a deeper and more meaningful level.

This does not mean that I love him more now, as I loved him just as much then. Yet today there is a need within me that he satisfies, which he could not do as a child. Before, it was always his needs that were the focus. Now, he is also concerned about me. There has come an identification and understanding of the problems of life, where he will say, "Mom are you doing okay, is there anything you need?"

As newborn babes, we are to desire the pure milk of the word that we might grow. Matthew 13:11 tells us that it has been given to us to know the mysteries of the Kingdom, but this is true only for those who meet certain conditions. These mysteries are the secret things in the heart of the Lord which He desires to share with those who have a capacity to hear.

"The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him;
and he will shew them His covenant" Psalm 5:14.

This capacity is developed through a two-way relationship in which time is spent together, both in listening and sharing; where it is not only my interest, but the Lord's interests that concern my heart.

The Lord is seeking those today who desire such a relationship, through which they will come to know Him; and in which He can share those things which are on His heart, especially for the time in which we live.

Paul's prayer was that he might intimately know the Lord. He had met the Lord in a powerful visitation of His glorious presence, while on the road to Damascus, but this was not enough; he desired to personally know Him. Therefore Paul said that he was pressing toward the mark for this experience.

The Lord will respond to this desire to be personally known.

"Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do." Genesis 18:17.

"The Lord God will do nothing but He revealeth His
secret unto his servant the prophets." Amos 3:7.

"There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto
Moses whom the Lord knew face to face." Deut 34:18.

"My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all
mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth,
even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the
similitude of the LORD shall he behold." Num 12:7-8

This is a realm of relationship, not to be lightly sought after, as it carries much responsibility, but it is available to those who simply cannot be satisfied with less.

"I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me
early shall find Me ... that I may cause those that
love Me to inherit substance; and I will fill their
treasures ... for whoso findeth Me findeth life, and
shall obtain favour of the LORD" Prov 8:17,21,35.

Often we try to ignore our feelings, yet by doing this we eliminate the experience of a deeper understanding of "being." We were created with the capacity to know the Lord. Throughout life, as we come to know ourselves, we can also increasingly experience a deep personal communion with the Lord.

We should recognize that behind every tree is the potential for both good and evil. If in our experiences, whether pain or laughter, we can learn to turn to the Lord, a greater revelation of His person will enter our hearts.

We are created body, soul, and spirit. For our bodies, there is a call to holiness. We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.
(Rom 12:1-2).

We were created to have thoughts and feelings, which find their expression in our soul. In this area of our being, there is a deeper sanctification, not where we eliminate feelings, but where we turn them toward the Lord, allowing an enlargement of understanding to come into our lives which will lead us into an experiential understanding of the very heart of God.

Through his life experience, my son now relates to me on a different level than he did as a child. Because of his own feelings and needs, he understands my feelings and needs. So also, we are to grow spiritually into a level of identification with the Lord. This takes place as we learn to know the Lord through the outworking of our life experiences, spirit, soul, and body.

The Lord seeks this deeper level of communion with those who are spiritually maturing through this process of sanctification, those who are coming to a fuller understanding of who the Lord is, and of His needs and His desires, wrought through their own life experiences.

There is something in man that is lonely, that desires to be known on a deeper level. So it is with the Lord. May all of our life experiences bring us toward that greater understanding of God, and may we grow into that which can satisfy His heart.