How Can I Be Sure That I Know God?
How can you be sure of your relationship to God?
“If there were no God there would be no atheists.”
G.K. Chesterton
I regularly hear from students who have grown up in Christian homes and go to college only to have their faith thrown on the rocks of the current cultural challenges. In the midst of so much uncertainty, is there any solid rock we can stand on?
Whenever I hear of students losing their faith in college, I discover there are usually specific events leading to the disappearance of their faith. The first and most predominant event is that the student begins to neglect private reading and meditation on Scripture. Soon after this, they are presented with challenges from a professor of philosophy, or possibly some other professor, as they openly ridicule the Bible and the Christian faith.
Since the student has not been trained in how to respond to these challenges, he or she begins to adopt the thinking of the culture. Some quotes from the culture about the Bible follow: “The Bible really is a good book but it is not really different than Shakespeare or Plato”; “nice book but not directly from God”; a book written by male chauvinists to keep women enslaved”; “a very nice but outdated religious text.”
When the pressure of studies overwhelms them, they slowly outgrow their discipline of daily Bible reading. And for a while nothing seems different. They get good grades, even though they neglect the Scriptures.
What does all this have to do with my assurance of my relationship with God? It has everything to do with it. The only place in the Bible where God specifically promises to prosper a person is in this area of Scripture meditation. These promises are found in Joshua 1:6-9, Psalms 1:1-3 and James 1:22-25. They all contain the thought that anyone who daily studies and meditates on the Scripture and seeks to obey its teaching will be blessed.
In John 8:31-32, 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
I struggled with assurance for the first nine years of my Christian life. There were times when I felt like I was exactly on target and doing what God wanted me to do and during those times there was no doubt at all. But the times that were so distressing to me were the times when I was not doing the things I knew I should be doing.
How do you find assurance when your life is not in perfect harmony with God? What happens when you know what you are doing is not right? What I used to do when I felt guilty for not doing what I knew to be right was to make more promises to God that I would read more Scripture, I would talk to more people about Christ, I would fast more, and pray more. This all worked well for a short time but it never really took care of my lack of assurance. As long as I was faithful to following the disciplines I was ok, but whenever I stepped off the righteous ritual wagon I felt even worse. What sort of person am I that my commitment to Christ is so short lived? Did I really know Christ, or was I just deceiving myself? And on and on the conversation in my head went.
The freedom for me came at a retreat in May of 1986. I had been plagued by doubts about my conversion for the past year since I had become a campus pastor of a successful college ministry. Thoughts in my head constantly accused me of my lack of faithfulness to Christ. During this retreat I decided that I was no longer to play this game. I determined to stay up through the night and find my answer or I would resign from my ministry and go do something else.
I began my quest for an answer around 10:15 p.m. I opened my journal and began to pour out my complaints to God. I wrote, “I need to know if I know you or not, God. If I do not, then I will quit playing this game and resign and do something else. I am going to stay up all night and seek after you. If I do not get my answer by sunrise, then I will quit.”
I began to read large portions of Scripture and pray and cry out to God. I searched my heart for what I really wanted out of life. I was married to a great wife, had a tremendous young daughter of 18 months, was well thought of by many in the church, and on the outside looked like a very successful minister with college students. What else could a guy want?
That was just it. I had it, but it did not satisfy the deepest longings of my life. I was still unsure of where I stood with God. I had prayed and trusted Christ over 9 years ago, I had memorized large portions of Scripture, and even regularly and openly shared about my faith in Christ with others, but the settled assurance was still absent.
Through the night, as I read and meditated over the Scripture that God had brought to my mind, I found my heart being renewed and strengthened. Around 3 a.m., I asked God to speak to me clearly. I needed to know. After I had prayed that prayer, a passage from Romans Chapter 7 came to my mind.
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:15-25 (NIV)
This was a passage I had committed to memory years before, not knowing how the seed of God’s Word would return to me years later. Around 3 a.m. I heard a voice, not audible, but nevertheless very real, which asked me a question. “Phil, there is no one else here at this moment. What do you really desire more than anything else right now?”
I thought about that for a short minute but quickly responded, “I just want to know you, God, I don’t care about anything else. I don’t care what else happens, I just want to know that I know You!”
The next question I heard was, “Phil, when did you first become concerned about knowing me?”
My response, “Nine years ago when I turned from my sins and received Christ.”
The next thing I heard was, “Who do you think gave you that desire to know me?”
It was then that Romans 7:22-25 rose to the top of my mind. . “22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:15-25 (NIV)
I knew then at that moment that I had connected with God for sure. He had placed that desire for Him in my heart nine years ago and now it was all making sense. Even if nothing makes sense in this world, I know that I know God. From that moment on I have never doubted my connection with God. I have, however, doubted His ability to use me in my fallen, imperfect state--but that is another question.
So, in essence, how can you be sure that you know God? It will take time and a serious pursuit of the God who has pursued you to this moment. Why not plan this next week to get away with just your Scripture and spend some time seeking out after God?
Small Group Discussion Questions:
1. On a scale of 1-10, with ten being absolutely positive that you are rightly connected to God, where would you place yourself?
2. Are there any steps of obedience you have not yet followed such as:
a. Baptism
b. Regular intake of God’s Word
c. Time set aside to pray and seek after God
d. Confession of Sin
e. Other.
3. Can you point to a time when you vividly remember surrendering your entire life to Christ? If you cannot remember one, why not make that decision right now? Leave your group and get alone and surrender to Christ everything you have and are or will be. You may want to read and meditate over Romans 12:1-2 and respond accordingly.
4. Sometimes we find our connection with Christ grows stronger when we declare our love for Him to others. Who needs to hear about your life for Christ right now? Pray for them and then go tell them what Jesus means to you.