We love to feature a devotional, book review or testimony ~ a “Devotional Spotlight”, written by a woman in our ministry! We hope you are blessed in reading Nikki’s devotional and plan to join us for “Breathe ~ A Gathering of Women” one week from today, August 13 at 7 pm in Student Center South! The evening will be filled with worship, prayer, faith stories and focus on Fall Bible Studies!
This summer I was able to travel out to CA to see my grandmother, my Omi, for the first time in six months. She has been living with Alzheimer’s disease for the past eight years. The phases of anger and confusion have passed and she is now in a state of childlikeness. I took my children to see her and it was a sweet time, but it was also hard because she did not know me.
When we were young and she would put all the kids to bed, we would ask her to tell us about when we were little. She always had a couple stories for each grandchild and they all ended with the phrase, “I had to laugh.” It warmed our hearts to be known, and now when I go see her she doesn’t recognize me because she has lost her memories. She has lost my stories, the stories of us.
Recently, at Johnson Ferry we have been hosting Breathe, a gathering for women where we have been telling our stories. We do this because these stories bring glory to God, and we also tell them so we will be known. In a church as large as ours there are many amazing testimonies, and Breathe has become a place for us to share, grow closer, and know one another.
Being known is also a wonderful reason to come to Bible study. God has written out a large part of His story. He wants us to read and study it because He wants us to know Him, deeply and intimately. He has known each of us since before time began , and He knows every step of our future. One of the amazing things about our God is that He desires relationship, and not a relationship where He only knows us, but for Him to know us and us to know Him. He desires to be known.
I have often described it this way. What if your life story was written out, exactly how you wanted it, and someone who claims to love you wouldn’t read it. That would hurt, deeply. Think of when you first got to know your best friend, and you wanted to hear stories about them so that you could understand what made them who they were. To know their stories gives a greater understanding, compassion, and love for that friend.
In the beginning, I only knew my Omi as she fit into my life as a grandma, but then as I grew older and learned about her childhood in Poland during WWII, and her immigration to San Francisco where she met my Opi, I began to gain a deeper understanding and love for her. This is what God desires for us. That we would know the parts of His story from before we were born.
From childhood everyone has some understanding about God. Some learn truth and others hear lies, but everyone learns something. Then, when we come to a saving faith in Him we understand that He is our Father, our savior, and that He holds our future. These moments of spiritual infancy and then spiritual childhood are very much about learning who we are in Christ. However, we are not to remain as children. His desire is that we would grow, and learn more about why He is our father, savior, and protector. He wants us to know who He is. This is why we study the Bible.
Now, one might wonder why we have to do this with other humans. Couldn’t we just read it on our own? We can, but again our God is a relational God and we are made in his image. We have been created to be in relationship with one another, as well as Him. His purpose in this is that we would encourage one another and build each other up. He desires that we carry one another’s burdens, rejoice with those who rejoice and grieve with those who grieve. He longs for us to love one another with His love so that He will be glorified by the body of Christ.
I love my Omi, even though she doesn’t know who I am or why I love her. Knowing her is still a gift. I am thankful for my memories, old and new. This makes me cherish knowing others and being known. I love that my God knows me perfectly, and that each day I get to know him more and more.
Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the one in the New Testament, so when we read about who He was, we are really learning about who He is.
