From Fear to Love: Created to be Known

by: Carole L. Haines

“We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.” (1 John 4:16) 

We talked last time about how we learn God’s love in two ways. We come to know it, and we believe it. That may sound like the same thing, but as we delve into the deeper meaning of the verse, we see they are different.  

Come to know–ginosko–to become acquainted with, get knowledge of, learn to know, understand, perceive. 

Have believed-pisteuo–place confidence in, to be committed to, to put trust in, to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well-being) to Christ. 

Coming to know God seems to be our initial conversion and early walk with Christ. We are becoming acquainted with Him, learning to hear His voice, discerning the first truths He is revealing to us, as new believers, through the Holy Spirit. (John 14:26) 
As we grow in Christ and walk with Him by experience, we believe the love that God has for us on increasingly deeper levels.  

Walking with Jesus out of our old ways of thinking and behaving, into God’s new ways, leave us wanting God to give us a copy of the blueprints. We may at least want Him to give us a glimpse of the map. But God’s love is often the only blueprint He gives us. His loving promises are often our only Map.  

This journey out of Fear is all about God’s Character and our surrender to it. We must know Him and His Perfect love by experience, not just by words. We find ourselves in perplexing situations sometimes. If we respond by trying to control it ourselves, we remain stunted in our relationship with God. If we yield to the Holy Spirit’s voice, we begin to grow into a trust of God through experience. Soak in this insight from Oswald Chambers, 

A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Jesus so that we may understand Him? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple. (O. Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, January 25) 

Keep journeying with Him, Dear Believer, and don’t lose heart. He is leading you out into wide open spaces. Trust Him in this time of confinement and you will know His magnificently wide-open spaces of Freedom within.  You were created to be known and to know God intimately. May He reveal more of Himself to you today as You yield to His Mighty work within you. Be Blessed.