Do I Know You?

John 1:43-51

In 2020, when we have the world at our fingertips, why do so many people feel alone?  How can we have 1000+ “friends” and feel like no one knows us?

In today’s passage, Nathanael is surprised that Jesus knows him.  He asks, “How do you know me?” and Jesus answers, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree.”  God’s ability to SEE is far greater than we can comprehend.  God sees us before we are even “us.”  He knows each of us intimately and wants us to witness great things and experience the wonders of his love.

In this new year, I plan to use Psalm 25:4-5 as my prayer. (I imagine Nathanael prayed something similar):  Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.  Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

And like Nathanael, I’ll ask Jesus with an earnest heart, “How do you know me?”  Then I’ll listen for his answer because the key to developing a deeper relationship with Him is knowing Him and knowing that with Him, I’m never alone.

So, if you need to hear these words today… God sees you.  He sees you sitting there under the fig tree and you are not alone.

I Once Was Lost, but Now Am Found

READ: Ezekiel 34:11-16

I spent seven years as a lost sheep. Separated from the flock of the Lord’s people and from the Good Shepherd himself, I wandered through life alone. I was very self-reliant then. Proud too. I pushed people away, refused help, and tried to make it on my own. I failed miserably.

When my Shepherd found me, I was deeply broken. I had no friends. I had wounded my family through years of rebellion and separation. I was dissatisfied with every worldly treasure. My life felt meaningless, and I had little hope for the future.

“I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,” promises the Lord. (Ezekiel 34:16)

I used to think I was sleek and strong -- I was doomed to destruction. But when I encountered the Good Shepherd, I realized that I was weak and injured and that he wanted to heal me. All he needed was my submission.

The Good Shepherd changed my life. I have friends now. Real friends. Friends that accept me for who I am and genuinely care about me. My relationship with my family is being restored. I am filled with hope and satisfied with the provisions the Good Shepherd makes for me each day.

Sometimes I still wander … drift away on the path of pride or self-reliance or solitude. But the Good Shepherd chases me, catches me, and carries me back home, to the good pasture of life with his people, life in his care. He is true to who he says he is and what he says he will do. As it is written in Proverbs (and quoted in 1 Peter and James), “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Lonely Places- Matthew 26:36-46

Have you ever gone through a lonely place with God? I think God takes us through these places so we learn to rely on his strength. Death is probably the loneliest place, weather dealing with your own mortality or someone you dearly love; you can be surrounded by people and still feel very alone.

Jesus must have felt lonely while praying in the garden of Gethsemane. He had his closest disciples with him who couldn’t stay awake and pray with him during this desperate time. Each time he found them sleeping, Jesus would return to his knees and spend time with his father.

I’m sure that’s the way God wants it. When we find ourselves feeling alone or even abandoned by those who should be there for us, God is there. He may not always change our situation, but he will comfort us and give us strength. Go to him today if you are feeling lonely. Cry out to him for comfort, he is waiting.

Read today's passage at Biblegateway Matthew 26:36-46