There is no one who knows me like my God.
Psalm 139 is my absolute favorite passage in the entire Bible. Forgive me for my simplified paraphrase.
You search me and you know me.
You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You know when I go out and when I go to sleep.
You know what I will say before my words are formed.
You go behind me and in front of me.
There is nowhere that I can go that you are not there.
You created me and know my innermost thoughts and feelings.
You knew me in my mother’s womb before I was formed.
And you knew the number of my days before I was even born.
There is no one who knows me like my God. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses, my history and the emotional struggles that remain, He knows what is good for me and what is not, and He knows how all of it works together for my good.
He is all knowing and His plans are perfect.
Recently I faced a storm that challenged me to my core, one where my present reality merged with past experiences. The perfect storm. Like all good believers, the first thing that I did was to blame the enemy - thinking that clearly it was a plot that Satan had created to discourage and destroy me. Surely the enemy knew my thoughts and those deep-set emotions that are still raw. Surely the enemy knew the future events of the day and how they would collide with my already raw emotions. And surely the enemy had all control to set things in motion in order to knock me off my feet.
But. I was wrong.
I had to remind myself of a few truths that we rarely think about. A few truths that put our trials and challenges back into perspective and a few truths that take the credit away from the enemy who does not deserve it and gives it back to God where credit is due.
Satan is not God’s counterpart. He is not God’s dark twin with equal abilities.
Satan? He is not omniscient – all knowing, seeing our thoughts, our feelings, our innermost struggles. Only God has that power.
He is not omnipresent – everywhere at the same time, in our past, in our future, knowing what will happen to us and when it will happen. Only God has that power.
He is not omnipotent – all powerful, having full control over the events in our lives and the ability to bring destruction outside of God’s will. Only God has that power.
God has no beginning and no ending. Satan was both created and will be destroyed (Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 12: 12-14;Revelation 20:10).
Not every challenge, trial and hardship that happens in our lives was brought on by the enemy. Some of the challenges we face are allowed to happen in order for us to grow, to learn, and to heal. Do I understand it all? Absolutely not – if I did I would be God’s equal. His ways are higher than ours – He has a plan and knows what works together for our good. We are to rest in His plans. Even the perfect storm.
Sometimes external challenges come and will collide with our innermost struggles to create a storm that will resurrect things from underneath the surface of the waters. Someone may say something or do something that brings back old hurts and old emotions - feelings of loneliness, abandonment, jealousy, anger, pain, grief and confusion. When these things happen we tend to automatically blame the enemy and give him the credit for being powerful enough to have orchestrated the event.
My go to thought is typically..... “Satan knows that this is a struggle for me and knows just how to trip me up.” Well, truth be known....the enemy is not smart enough nor is he powerful enough to have pulled that off. That perfect storm you are now facing may be from God. He may have allowed circumstances to occur in order to put you in a different place, to wake up your spirit, and to open up old wounds so that they could be dealt with and healed in order to prepare the ground of your life for the future that only He knows.
So, stop giving the enemy more acknowledgement than he is due. Satan's power is limited and in fact, he is not only a liar, but a deceiver and a coward.
Say "boo" and he's gone.
Are you facing a storm? Are you facing an internal struggle that is so complicated that noone would understand even if you could explain it? Remember that God is the only one who knows your hidden thoughts, your hidden struggles and the timeline of your life. He is the all powerful one who works all things together for your good. So don't give the enemy credit for bringing something in to your life to destroy you when it may be God allowing the storms to come in order to bring healing. He has all power and dominion - allow Him to be the all knowing, all present and all powerful God that He is.
