I love being “in the know.” I love knowing what’s going to happen ahead of time so I can be prepared for what’s ahead. I don’t like feeling like I don’t understand something. Maybe you’re the same way? Our culture is obsessed with instant knowledge. When you want to know what the weather will be like this afternoon, you look at your phone’s weather app. When you want to know what’s going on in your friends’ lives, you go on Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook. When you want to know the average lifespan of a chicken, you Google it (it’s five to eight years, by the way).[1] Unfortunately, we don’t know everything. We can’t! And we can never be fully prepared for the future because we don’t know what the future truly holds. But guess who does know everything, including our futures? God!
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.” Isaiah 40:27-28, ESV
Our God is omniscient. I promise this is the final omni- attribute! It means that God is all-knowing. He knows everything (1 John 3:20), and His understanding is unsearchable. God is perfect in knowledge (Job 37:16). He knows the number of stars in the sky (Psalm 147:4). He knows the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30). Because our God is omniscient, He intimately knows everything about us-
“Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands;” Isaiah 49:15b-16a
God knows us! He cannot forget us because we are engraved on His hands. No creature can ever be hidden from His sight (Hebrews 4:13), and He knows all our thoughts (Luke 5:21-22). He is omniscient!
But we are not. We have limited knowledge. Everything is not revealed to us. There are secret things that belong to God and only God knows (Deuteronomy 29:29). And we don’t like this. We want to know what God knows! We want to know the future! We want to be in the know! Jen Wilkin writes about this strong desire of ours-
“Our insatiable desire for information is a clear sign that we covet the divine omniscience… Rather than obsessing over the future, learn contentment in your God-ordained innocence of what is to come.”[2]
When we want, want, want the information that only God knows, we are actually coveting His knowledge, and that’s a sin (Exodus 20:17). Instead of obsessing over what we do not know, we need to trust God and be content in Him. We need to give our anxieties and obsessions to Him-
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7, NIV
You do not know everything. You can’t – it’s impossible! You may be unsure of what your future holds. You may be anxious about what will happen or obsessive about what’s to come. Don’t be anxious! You have an omniscient, all-knowing God! He knows you, and He cares about you, and He loves you. This limited knowledge is for your ultimate good. If you find yourself anxious about something unknown today, give it to God! And trust Him today. He knows what He’s doing! Meditate on God’s omniscience-
“O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” Psalm 139:1-6, ESV
[1] “What is the Average Lifespan of a Chicken?”, Heritage Acres Market LLC, published May 28, 2018, accessed March 5, 2021, https://www.heritageacresmarket.com/chicken-lifespan/.
[2] Jen Wilkin, None Like Him: 10 Ways God is Different From Us (and why that’s a good thing) (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 111 & 116.
