Let Us Pursue Knowledge of the Lord

We are already in the new year, 2011! We have all had different experiences during the past year. Some of us had a great year; some of us had a terrible time. But we thank God that he changes the times and seasons. He is in total control of our lives. Our lives are in his hands, we are his instruments. It does not matter how many rocks we hit in life, what matters the most is the strength that is holding the instrument. The God that we trust is the All-Powerful God and there is no other God besides Him.


It is not easy to put your trust in someone you do not know. In fact, I believe trust is not instant, but is built over time. It does not matter how powerful and trustworthy that person may seem to be, until you know him very well, it would be difficult to trust him with everything you have and everything you are. You may give the benefit of the doubt until you reach a certain level of knowledge about the person before you can honestly say you trust him.

As I thought about this it dawned to me that we need to build that kind of a relationship with God to faithfully put our trust in Him. The core of our discussions in past articles was trusting in the Lord at all times. As we look forward to the new year the words of the prophet Hosea strongly came to me that we should pursue the knowledge of the Lord.

The Apostle Paul says, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like Him in His death,” (Philippians 3:10 NIV). There is nothing that surpasses the greatness of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ. You confidently put all your trust in Him when you get to understand how great He is.

Remember the story of David when he was running away from King Saul? (Read 1 Samuel 18 -24). There was a time when David was in the wilderness. He was obviously thirsty, hungry and tired. However, he knew very well who the Lord is. Instead of mourning over his situation, he rejoiced in the Lord. Instead of requesting for supply of water and food, he looked at his situation from a different perspective.

He said, “O God, You are my God. Early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You in a dry land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory. Because of Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You,” (Psalm 63:1-3 NKJV).

David had deeper understanding that his life is in the hands of the Lord and whatever happens God will always be there to rescue Him. As you read the rest of the psalm you will realize that he chooses to rejoice instead of stressing over his situation. He says, “Because you have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.”

Such confidence and trust in the Lord is a result of knowing the faithfulness of God. I often say God loves us, God cares for us and God is faithful. All it takes is to have a deeper and intimate knowledge Him.

“Let us know, let us pursue knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning. He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth,” (Hosea 6:3 NKJV).

My dear friend, whatever you are going through, embrace it in your heart that you shall pursue the knowledge of the Lord. The New International Version says as surely as the sun rises He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. If you know who this God we worship is, you will have the patience that no matter how tough the situation is, you will wait upon the Lord because surely at the right time He will come.

It is funny that we have so much faith that the morning shall come tomorrow, the sun shall rise. Even when we do not live to see that morning, we know it shall come. We had faith that 2011 shall come and 2010 would be history. However, when we get into trials and tough times we lose that faith in God, who controls the coming and going of the morning, who changes the times and seasons (Daniel 2:21). Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord, let us seek Him and surely we shall find Him.

“For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited; “I am the Lord and there is no other, I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, “Seek Me in vain”; I the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right,” (Isaiah 45:18-19 NKJV).

When we seek God we shall find Him. He is ready and willing to reveal Himself to us. We shall not seek in vain. In times of trouble and in times of happiness, if we seek for his presence He will come to us like the sun rising in the morning. When there is no water He will come like the winter rains, He will come like the spring rains and surely there will be change in your situation. All in good time and His time is the good time. Let us pursue knowledge of the Lord to understand that His time is the right time!

If you can take a survey around and ask who the Lord is, I guess you can get so many varying answers. Jesus Himself asked His disciples “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? The disciples told Him that some say He was John the Baptist, some Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the prophets. The next question that Jesus asked the disciples lingers on my mind very often.

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15 NIV).

To me it says; put aside what people say that the Lord is, do you have a personal knowledge of the Lord? It does not matter how long you have walked with the Lord, as the disciples had been with Jesus in His mission more than the rest, but do you really know who the Lord is? You say you trust in the Lord, but do you know who He is?

When Peter answered that He is Christ, Son of the living God, Jesus replied “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17 NIV).

My friend, if we pursue the knowledge of the Lord, He will surely reveal Himself to us. Then we will learn to rejoice in the Lord always. We will learn to be thankful in all circumstances. We will learn to trust in His unfailing love. No man can reveal to us who the Lord is but God Himself.

I am inspired by David’s words when instructing his son Solomon to build the temple of the Lord. He said, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will cast you forever,” (1 Chronicles 28:9 NKJV).

My dear friend, may the Almighty God bless us even more this year as we encourage each other daily. In Romans 11:36 the Word says from Him, through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.