How well God knows me

There is a story attributed to Henry Ford, famous for mass-producing and popularizing Model T cars. One day, the generator at his plant broke down and Ford contacted General Electric to send a repairman. The repairman, named Charles Steinmetz, walked around the generator and made a chalk mark on it. He then told Ford's engineers to remove a plate at the chalk mark and replace 16 windings from the field coil. When they did so, the generator was humming again. When Henry Ford got the bill for $ 10,000, he refused to pay until the bill was itemized. The bill came back with the following itemization: "$ 1 for making the chalk mark, $ 9,999 for knowing where to put the chalk mark." Charles Steinmetz knew the generator inside out, just as Henry Ford knew Model T inside out as the inventor. Henry Ford recognized this and gladly paid the itemized bill with respect.

God certainly knows me inside out, as my Creator. As the Psalmist sang in Psalm 139:13-16, God "created my inmost being and knit me together in my mother's womb." His eyes "saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in (His) book before one of them came to be." Even before I actually became a physical being, he had seen me and knew the course of my life. He knew me before I existed and He knows my past, present and future.

Yes, He certainly knows me as my Creator. But unlike Henry Ford who mass-produced and knew about Model T cars, God knows me personally as a unique individual. In fact, His knowledge of all His creation is individualistic and personable. He not only counts the number of stars, but also calls them each by name (Psalm 147:4). The latest estimate on the number of stars is that there are about 10 billion galaxies, with each galaxy averaging about 1 billion stars; and this is only in the universe known to mankind. God not only counts, but also names each of the stars whose numbers are beyond fathomable to mankind. God also takes interest in all His creation, so that not a single sparrow would fall to the ground without His permission (Matthew 10:29). God takes personal interest in me that even the number of hair on my head is known to him (Matthew 10:30). As the Great Shepherd, He calls out His sheep by name (John 10:3) and even engraved me on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16). In fact, He knows my coming and going, my lying down, my innermost thoughts, and my words before I speak them (Psalm 139:1-5). There is nothing about me that can be hidden from Him.

In knowing me, what He knows about me is that I am but a weakling (Hebrews 4:15, Romans 8:26). He knows that I am no stronger than a bruised reed that He should care not to break or a smoldering wick that He should care not to snuff out (Isaiah 42:3). I was made from the dust and will return to it. My earthly life depends on breathing through the nostrils and taking food. God knows that I am a weakling and I have needs that must be met to survive (Matthew 6:32). And He knows what is sufficient to meet my needs better than I know who am afflicted with greed (Matthew 6:11, Proverbs 30:7-9). He also knows that I have sufferings, aches and pains, injuries and wounds (Isaiah 53:3-4).

What is most amazing is that He, as God, would have known all that there is to know about me without ever making any effort to know me. Yet, He chose to come down as man and experience what I experience, so that He knows me empirically and sympathetically (Hebrews 4:15). While on earth, Jesus experienced hunger (Matthew 21:18, Mark 11:12) and thirst (John 19:28), knew poverty with "no place to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58), was misunderstood even by His own family (John 7:1-5), was insulted and blasphemed (Matthew 10:25, 12:24), was denied (Matthew 26:69-75) and betrayed (Matthew 26:14-16,47-56) by His own disciples, was mocked, whipped, pierced and crucified (Matthew 27:27-56), and was even buried (Matthew 27:57-61). He chose to be tempted and tested in every way, just as we are, but He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).

Surely God knows me. God the Son came down as a man, taking the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:7), to experience what I experience. He knows me better than I do myself. That is why I can depend on Him to lead me the right way and provide for me. I join the Psalmist in imploring Him to "lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:24).