During the height of the civil war in Liberia, my friend Shadrach and his sister, Mary fled over the border into the Ivory Coast to avoid the fighting. They were seeking refuge and a place to be able to finish their high school education. The school they had attended at the Firestone Rubber Plantation was closed. All the American businesses had left the country. Their father’s source of income as a supervisor at Firestone was gone. Their only hope was an Operation Classroom school in Danane, Ivory Coast run by Methodist missionaries, Herbert and Mary Zigbuo. They traveled there while in great danger as refugees. The Zigbuo’s took them in, treating them as their own children. They were able to finish their high school education and met the Wagner’s from Indiana who were instrumental in both Shadrach and Mary eventually coming to the US for their college degrees.
It would have been easy for them to feel forgotten by God when running for their lives away from the gunfire and the bombings. They were two of thousands of refugees leaving Liberia. At that time they did not know if the rest of their family were dead or alive. Prayer was a part of their daily lives. Their faith in a God who delivers was the only stability in a world that was crumbling around them. Little did Shadrach and Mary know then that God did see their plight and was setting circumstances up for their escape. God knew them intimately as He knows each of us even before we were born. A beautiful passage from Psalm 139 describes how we are known by God.
“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me…”
It is wonderful to realize we are intimately known in this way but it’s also a little scary. God knows everything about me-EVERYTHING. He knows not just the good and bad things I’ve done but He knows all my thoughts. There is nothing I can hide from Him. No where I can go to escape Him. This would be very scary if not for Grace. God knows me better than I know myself yet He still loves me enough to sacrifice Himself so I can live with Him forever!
When Jesus was here in earthly form, He demonstrated on many occasions that He had the ability to know the thoughts and character of the people around Him. After His baptism by John the Baptist, He called several to follow Him. One of these soon to be disciples was Nathanael. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael was astonished that Jesus saw him and knew him before they had even met while he sat unaware under a fig tree.
Jesus sees us and knows us too in life’s ordinary situations long before we have ever met Him. God’s Prevenient Grace finds us under our own fig tree. He seeks us and invites us to follow Him as Jesus invited His disciples long ago. He finds us in the mundane things of life. We might be washing the dishes or driving our kids to a ball game. He finds us and comforts us in desperate times as He did with Shadrach and Mary when they were running for their lives. They may have been discouraged and afraid but they never lost faith in the One who saves. Most of us will never experience the terror of a civil war but Jesus knows us and seeks us right where we are. He sees who we are but He also knows who we could become. Shadrach was just another refugee but Jesus knew he could become a doctor and be a leader and example of hope for his people. As we ponder the magnitude of the world we live in, we may feel that we are insignificant. But in Jesus’ eyes, be assured that we are perfectly known and infinitely significant.
