Have you ever wondered if God really knows you? I mean, deeply, truly knows you and who you are and all of those small details of your life that only you know?
So many people have this vision of God as a far off distant God who is only present when He’s angry at them. They believe that He has very little involvement in their daily lives, outside of catching them in their sin and reminding them that if they don’t stop sinning and start following His rules that they’re out of the “Heaven club.”
I used to be one of those people but later discovered how very loving and personal our God truly is.
I hope this post encourages you if you’re in a season of discouragement or if you’re just not sure about God and who He is.
Our God is a Personal God
One of the biggest joys I’ve discovered as a Christian is when I get to experience what I, and many others, like to call “Godwinks.”
Now of course I fear God and He is not just my best friend, but He’s also my Savior. However, in the relationship I’ve built and continue to build with Him I really do love to see Him as making these small moments happen and mic-dropping or giving that little wink to say, “See? I’m still here. I still care. You’re not alone.”
Maybe you’ve had one, maybe you haven’t. Or maybe you just didn’t know what to call it at the time.
These are personal moments or events that happen in our lives where we really see God or experience Him in “coincidences” or ways that answer our prayers or questions to Him.
Example of A Godwink for Me
One of my favorite moments from 2023 happened about a month or so before I traveled to Israel for the first time.
I had just started listening to the podcast Happy and Healthy by Jeanine Amempola (highly recommend). It was the episode with Mikey Planeta, and as I generally do, I paused the podcast midway through one night before I went to bed.
The next morning I got up and did my morning devotional which, at the time, consisted of me reading through the Gospels since I was heading to Israel in less than a month. I wanted to be fresh with these books as I headed to the Holy Land so that I would be able to appreciate the places I visited more.
I was reading through John when Jesus is picking His disciples and something really jumped off the page for me that I had never noticed before. (See John 1:43-49)
The moment that really jumped out at me was when Jesus chooses Philip and Nathaniel. Jesus had just told Philip to follow him and Philip went to talk to Nathaniel about how they had found the Messiah that all of the prophets wrote about – it was Jesus of Nazareth.
Nathaniel, when hearing this, asked Philip, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” but still goes with Philip to meet Jesus and see for himself.
And when Jesus sees Nathaniel approaching he says, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
Nathaniel of course responds “How do you know me?” And Jesus answers, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
Then Nathaniel says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
It makes you wonder what he was doing under that fig tree that when Jesus references the tree Nathaniel is blown away by it. He’s instantly onboard for Jesus. No convincing needed outside of the mention of the fig tree.
This passage spoke to me in a dark place where I was starting to question everything about my self worth, everything happening in my life, and I was feeling so lost, worn out and overwhelmed. Oh, and not to mention feeling forgotten by God (I’m sure you’ve been there too, friend).
What a beautiful reminder that God sees us. That He knows us personally, even the smallest moments, all of the prayers we pray, the tears we cry, the thoughts we think, the feelings we have. He knows it all.
And for Nathaniel, the smallest mention of how God saw him under that fig tree – that was all it took for him to feel seen and known by God. To know that Jesus was who He said He was.
…Back to the podcast part of the story. Oof, I’m getting a bit long-winded here, aren’t I? I promise it ties in.
That afternoon I pushed play on that podcast episode to start it up again, but I’ll be honest that I was half listening while focusing on something else.
Out of nowhere my mind focused back on the episode at the part where Mikey mentions the disciple that Jesus saw under the tree. And I knew instantly which disciple he was talking about because I had just read that chapter that morning.
And I felt so seen by God.
I often find that He repeats messages over and over again sometimes to show me that He sees me. And sometimes it’s to make sure that I’m reading or actually hearing and understanding them.
He repeated this one on the very same day in the most unusual of ways and one in which I almost missed it by not paying attention.
And it meant so very much to me. It made me feel seen and known. It made me feel like I had not been forgotten by God like I had thought. Oh what a beautiful moment. And that might not seem like much for you reading, but at the time, it meant the world to me.
I made sure to find a fig tree while in Israel and even took a leaf with me because now thinking of fig trees made me think of how personal our God is. How He knows me – like, really knows me. When I felt forgotten, He made sure that I knew He saw me, He cared, that He was there through it all.
What Bible verse shows God is personal?
There are so many Bible verses that show us how personal God is. And I can resonate with them so much more when I think of my own experiences where God has made Himself personal to me.
Here are some verses that will encourage you to see God as a personal God who loves you and really sees you, no matter your current circumstances:
- Of course, there’s the one I just mentioned above about Nathaniel when Jesus mentions that He saw him when he was under the fig tree. –John 1:43-49
- Hagar, who runs away to the wilderness after being mistreated by Sarai and is met by God – “So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” “ –Genesis 16:13
- I think of Zacchaeus the tax collector who climbs a tree to see Jesus and Jesus sees him and tells him He must stay at his house. -Luke 19:1-10
- “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” -Psalm 56:8
- “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” -Matthew 10:29
- “ “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD.” –2 Kings 20:5
- When God saw a widow in Nain who had lost her son – “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” –Luke 7:13
- “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” –Psalm 139:13-14
- “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” –Psalm 139:16
- “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,
too lofty for me to attain.” –Psalm 139:2-6 - “…your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” –Matthew 6:8
- “The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” –Psalm 121:8
Takeaways: God Is a Personal God
There are so many other moments in my life where God has become “real” to me – close and personal. Times where He’s made Himself known and made me remember that He hears me and is listening, even if He doesn’t always answer or speak to me in the ways that I hope.
I pray that You too will see this and remember the moments where He has seen you. And if you haven’t experienced them, I pray that today you would see this post as a reminder that God sees you and knows everything about you. That you’re not reading this post accidentally, but because He led you to this exact place at the right moment.
I’ll leave you with a few takeaways to think about:
- Be reminded that God sees your life, your tears, He hears your prayers and even what you don’t say
- You matter to God
- Life may not be going the way you wanted it to right now but just know that God cares and He sees you
- Pray for expectant hope to see Him in your days and moments; sit quietly and listen to what He wants to talk to you about
I’d love to hear from you – do you believe that God sees you?
-Marissa
