Monday, March 9, 2015

I Know You Better Than You Know Yourself

First attempt at painting toe nails

My recent posts, despite their irregularity, seem to be focused on parent/child relationships. Here is another one in the same vein. A week or two or more ago I found myself once again in the companionship of Evelyn, our 2.5 year-old. I can't remember now the exact circumstances, but she wanted something. In response to her request (or demand), I told her no, and then proceeded to elaborate on what she would do if I did what she wanted. I'm sure I was very wise about it. And I ended my speech by telling her, "I know you better than you know yourself." She probably hadn't been listening for most of the time, and even if she was she probably didn't understand what I meant by saying I knew her better than she herself did.

I feel like I am right about knowing her better than she knows herself. I have observed her and watched her develop, seen her personality take shape, and witnessed her responses to different situations. Which isn't to say I know her perfectly, because certainly she still surprises me, and frequently, but my position relative to hers enables me to know her better than she knows herself. What do I have going for me? Mostly time, which includes my own experiences, plus a higher capacity to reason and remember. I've been watching her respond to things since the moment she was born, and although she experienced those things, she can't recall them, and can't necessarily apply them, either.

As I made the statement, "I know you better than you know yourself," I couldn't help but think of God, my Heavenly Father, saying the same thing to me. He knows me better than I know myself. What does He have going for Him? A lot of time and experience, plus a higher capacity to reason and remember. He's been watching me respond to things since the moment I was spiritually and physically born, and although I experienced those things, I can't always recall them, and certainly can't (and sometimes won't) apply them, either.

Jeremiah 1:5 is a great example of God's knowledge of me, and each of His children:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.

It's as simple as that. Since being spiritually created, by God, He has known us. I don't know how much time that is on an earthly scale, and it doesn't matter really. It is safe to say that He knows us not only better than we know ourselves, but also perfectly. So when I ask for something and don't get it, or try to determine how things should happen and then they don't, I need to remember that God knows me and knows what is best for me. Because of that He can say things like:

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

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