Today as I sat holding my Bible, I thought about how fortunate we are that our almighty God, who rules and reigns over the universe and all living things, has placed divine revelation in our grasp. The reality that God has made Himself and His purposes “knowable” to mankind is a gift of unspeakable value. There is an awesome scripture verse found in John 17:3 that points toward this seldom thought about but important fact. Jesus is praying to God the Father and He says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” That God has made Himself “knowable” is without question astounding. Just imagine what it would be like if we had to constantly guess who God is and how He relates to people. We’d have only a “hit or miss” opportunity to discover and learn anything about Him. Every day we would wonder, “Is this what God is like? How shall I relate to this unknown phenomenon today?”

It is to our extreme benefit that God has given us the opportunity to truly “know” Him. His plan from the very beginning of creation was to enable people to enter into a relationship with Him. After all, man was the crown jewel in God’s creation. God walked and talked with the first man He created and it was His long-range plan to continue that intimacy with people. Since we were uniquely fashioned to be in fellowship with Him, the revealing, or the making of Himself “knowable,” was essential if man was ever to have close companionship with God. This is especially important concerning healing. Where would we be if God hadn’t let it be known that He is Jehovah-Rapha the Lord our Healer?  It is our privilege to “know the only true God” and through that knowledge be permitted to enter into a healing relationship with Him.

In spite of God making Himself known to mankind through progressive revelations over thousands of years, many of us, or perhaps most of us, still do not have a clear picture of God as our Heavenly Father, let alone God as our Healer. We have pieced together understandings based on fragments of teachings, Sunday school stories and childhood memories of our own father to help us conceptualize God. Images of Gothic cathedrals, representations from Middle Ages paintings, popular books and various stereotypes from religion further influence and shape our understanding of God. While there can be some merit from these sources and others like them, they can also be the origin of serious misunderstanding about the nature of God and how to relate to Him.

If we are truly to come to the knowledge of God as our Heavenly Father and if we are to fully understand His revelation that He is Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord our healer (Exodus 15:26), we must adjust our experiential understanding to the truth of God’s own revelation. Our perception must become adjusted and aligned with Bible revelation so we can more accurately discern the nature and character of God. The next time you study the Word of God, purpose in your heart that you will take advantage of the great gift God has given us and seek to “know” Him more fully. Do not be content with generalizations, but search the Word to discover His divine attributes. Discover the love of God, the longsuffering and patience He has for us, His great grace and His healing life. They, and much more information about God, are all there in His Word and they are all in our daily reality because God has made extremely important information about Himself knowable for all who seek to know Him. Let’s purpose in our hearts to grow into a more intimate and meaningful association with our Heavenly Father.