“You know me better than I know myself!” I had to chuckle when that phrase came to my thought one morning while I was quietly listening for God’s guidance about some important life decisions. It’s something we might say when a friend or spouse points out a character trait that we hadn’t seen in ourselves. But in that moment, it came as an angel message—the only way I can truly get to know myself is by getting to know God.
I needed to stop trying to “figure things out” from the basis of past human events or my current circumstances, and instead embark on a quest to really put God first—to go beyond just believing in God, to more concretely knowing and understanding Him in whom “we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). I took a cue from that practical book of James, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you” (4:8).
Since that realization years ago, I’ve learned that we are not left alone in the quest to know ourselves by drawing closer to God. The Christ, God’s immediate presence and power, is a guarding, comforting, and encouraging companion, bringing us always closer to uncovering our spiritual selfhood and purpose.
