God Knows Even When They Don’t

I don’t like being misunderstood or mischaracterized.

I don’t like being given labels that don’t belong to me. 

I don’t like wrong assumptions about who I am. 

And, when these things occur, I definitely don’t like it when I can’t correct them. 

Yet, all of the above are increasingly occurring in my life.

I don’t know whether it’s the people pleaser or the control freak (or both) in me that feels unsettled when I know people have the wrong impression of me, of my intentions, of my beliefs. All I know is that I struggle when it is obviously happening and I can’t fix it. 

Sitting and drinking coffee with a dear friend this week, I walked through a particularly difficult situation where this occurred. She listened to me ramble (like the wonderful person she is) as I talked, and then she gave a simple answer: 

 

“God knows your motivations, even if they don’t.” 

 

And that sentence has been running through my head ever since. 

It’s a simple truth, but I needed to be reminded that of course our all-knowing Father would know what’s actually going on in my heart and mind. Of course He knows my personality and my life. Of course He knows me as I actually am, not how I am perceived. 

Psalm 139 speaks well of this: 

 

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. (vs. 2-4)”

 

When we step into the truth that God KNOWS us, the weight of others’ perception falls off our shoulders. I am accountable to God for my heart, my ways, my life, my thoughts – not what they choose to think about me. 

My friends, I hope you’ll be as encouraged as I was by the words of my friend. Even if the whole world misunderstood you, God would still know exactly who you are. That is a comfort to hold tightly.