Panama was a month for a lot of learning – from speaking Spanish to cooking for 60 people, and from living in God’s will to living in community. Through all of this, every high and low, I learned the one thing I want to share with you: know God, and make God known.
This is such a strategic phrase, which is why I am so excited to share it with you. It also happens to be YWAM’s motto – they were our partner organization in Panama.
Let’s start with the first half: knowing God.
This is something that Christians will spend our entire earthly lives doing, and we will never be able to fully comprehend God. That’s maddening to some of us, and delightful to others. But persevering in knowing God through worship, prayer, and His Word will bring light, life, and peace like we’ve never experienced.
This is also one of the ways in which lazy English fails us – knowing God is so much more than knowing of God, or even about Him. To put it in perspective, even Satan is aware of who God is, what He’s about, and believes that He’s real. What our hyper-relational God desires is for us to have intimacy with Him. To let Him see into our hearts, and for us to seek after His. More than anything, He wants to be the best Dad, Friend, and Counselor we’ll ever meet – ever know.
Onto the second half: make God known.
We see Yahweh’s heart for His people throughout history, not just in Jesus’ age. From the beginning, God commands Adam and and Eve to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). After sin enters the world, and the people become dispersed, God sends prophets to preach His truth to the nations. Then again, Jesus commands His disciples to go, make more disciples, teaching and baptizing them (Matthew 28:19-20). Finally, we see the result of obedience to this call in Revelation, where every tribe, nation, and tongue is bowing down to God.
Especially for Jesus’ followers, this call is a big deal. He asks us to be the ones to show Him off. He trusts us with His story, and believes we are capable (with help from Holy Spirit) to lead people to Him. That’s so exciting!!!
Finally, we get to put those two together. These halves come together to form a life that’s beautifully whole – one I experienced in Panama. It looks like precious time with the Lord on my own and with others in worship, prayer, and His Word. It looks like serving my fellow believers, making sure they have a clean, safe place to live and good food to eat. It looks like offering His Word as a free gift to homes that don’t own a Bible, and sticking around for the conversations that come from the initial interaction. It looks like crying with sisters and receiving counsel and comfort. It’s begging the Lord to show up, and Him doing so more than I could have dreamed.
It’s incredible, really.
Now, I have a question for you, and as always, please email or comment your answers – I read them all and love them!
If you know (have an intimate relationship with) Yahweh, how are you making Him known?
If you don’t know (have an intimate relationship with) Yahweh, God, I would love to answer any questions you have, and will be praying that He shows up more than you could have dreamed.
