4 Things God Knows About You That You Don’t Know

4 THINGS GOD KNOWS ABOUT YOU THAT YOU DON’T KNOW

Ps. 139:1-18

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR:

1. A lady called in a prayer request, “My husband got stung by a bee on the forehead. He’s in the ER now. His face is all swollen and bruised and he almost died.”

2. She continued, “Luckily I was close enough to hit the bee with my shovel!”

B. TEXT

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 16... all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!... 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Ps. 139:1-6,13,16-18

C. THESIS

1. GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the National Security Agency knows a great deal about us from our cellphone data trails. While each crumb of data may seem insignificant, when it’s combined and analyzed it provides “one of the most powerful investigative tools ever devised.”

2. Investigators can pinpoint where we’ve been and where we are, at any given moment. Far more superior to NSA’s data trail, God knows every cell in your body, every atom in the universe, every thought we think & every motive. [Jan. 5, 2025 Daily Bread]

3. That’s one of the reasons we should depend upon God. HE KNOWS ALL THE DETAILS. He knows the end from the beginning and He knows all our fears and all our dreams.

4. There are many things God knows that we don't even know: a). how many hairs are on our heads, Matt. 10:30; b). how many days we’re going to live; and where we’ll be 20 years from now.

5. Today we're looking at "4 Things God Knows about You that You Don't Know.” First, God knows...

I. YOUR POTENTIAL -- FOR GREATNESS

A. GOD SEES OUR POTENTIAL USEFULNESS

1. ILLUS. “MR. IRRELEVANT.” During the annual NFL draft, football teams choose new players. Coaches spend thousands of hours evaluating prospective player’s skills and physical fitness. In 2022, Brock Purdy was the last – the 262nd pick and labeled “Mr. Irrelevant” – that’s the nickname given to the last football player selected. No one expected he would play in a game in the upcoming season. But by some caprice of fate Purdy led his team to two playoff wins. The reality is that team executives don’t always do an effective job identifying potential. [Daily Bread, 2-7-25] But God does!

2. When Simon was brought to Jesus, the Lord spoke prophetically of him, that he would be called Peter, which means "a rock," symbolizing Peter’s strength (John 1:42).

3. God saw Gideon as a "Mighty Warrior" when he was afraid and hiding in a wine-press. God saw Abram as "Father of Many" when he had no children. God sees OUR potential. None of the aforementioned people saw themselves as God did.

B. HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR POTENTIAL

1. All of us have potential for greatness -- to accomplish something for the kingdom of God or the good of mankind.

2. It may be small, like the little boy who contributed his lunch. Or it may be something big – like a cure for cancer or a discovery that will help many people.

3. Don’t measure your potential by YOUR RESOURCES, because in reality, you have GOD’S RESOURCES! God doesn’t need your ability, He needs your availability.

4. Jesus took a bunch of ignorant, uneducated fishermen and used them to turn the entire Roman world upside down. No one saw that coming!

5. We must not put limitations on what God can do through us. Only God knows our true potential. Our job is to be available and obedient!

6. Second, only God knows...

II. WHAT’S IN OUR HEARTS

A. MAN’S FAULTY VIEW

1. Other people judge us when they don't really know us. They judge from incomplete information or from outward appearance.

2. Many people try to put on a good appearance, but they're not what they seem. We think we know ourselves -- but in many ways we don’t; we have blind spots, we don't see our darker side. Jer. 17:9, God says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"