And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; (2 Peter 1:5)
Our middle daughter, I’ll call her “Kay,” is one of those Energizer Bunny types of people. When she is on, she is on and she’s non-stop. As she has matured, she has learned to channel that energy in positive ways, but she is still that “switched on” kind of person. And she loves Mountain Dew. Mix that with an already energetic personality and you could power a small country. When she was little, my wife Jane and I had a rule: “No Mountain Dew for Kay after 6 PM.” Because if we gave her something like that after 6, she’ be wired and still going at midnight.
One day, the whole family was at the Wal-Mart Super Center doing some shopping and when we got to the checkout line we assumed our usual formation: Jane got to the head of our group, the four kids lined up behind her and I took up the rear to make sure we didn’t lose anybody. Kay was right in front of me and as we were waiting she noticed that the soft drink refrigerator to our right had a new drink sensation: Mount Dew Code Red. Kay’s eyes got big and she turned to me all excited and said: “Dad! Look! They have Mountain Dew Code Red! I’ve wanted to try that! Can I have one?” I looked at the can, looked at her and imagined what that might do to her, and then I looked at my watch: 7 PM. “No, Kay, it’s after 6 and you know the rule. Besides, that stuff is like Mountain Dew on steroids.” Well, Kay being Kay, she decided to take her case to a higher court. She went to the front of our little formation to speak to Mom. I could not hear the conversation, but I knew what Kay was asking. She wanted to see if she could talk her mother into letting her have a Mountain Dew Code Red. I could tell from Jane’s body language that her answer was “No.” When Kay came back to where I was, she had an astonished look on her face, her eyes as big as saucers. Then she told me: “She said the same thing you said! I asked her if I could have one of those, and she said, ‘No, those are like Mountain Dew on steroids.’ Did you talk?” I smiled and said, “No” and Kay asked: “Can she hear us?” Again, I said, “No,” but Kay being Kay had to test that theory. She turned toward Mom and asked: “Hey, Mom, can you hear us?” By that time Jane was chatting with the cashier as the lady rung up our order. Jane could not hear Kay at all. Kay then turned to look at me again. “But how did she know what you said?” I told her, “Hon, your mother and I have been married longer than you’ve been alive. She didn’t have to hear me. We just know each other that well.”
I call that “fellowship knowledge.” It’s the kind of knowledge you develop with someone from being around them so much. It’s the kind of knowledge that knows how to finish the other person’s sentences. It’s the kind of knowledge that God wants us to develop with Him. It’s that point in your Christian walk where you don’t always have to have “chapter and verse” to know what it is God expects of you in a given situation. Because You know Him so well, you have a good idea of what God would have you to do. A good example of that kind of fellowship knowledge is Nehemiah. He was the man God sent to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem during the time of the Jews’ Captivity. In his efforts to rebuild the wall, he met with resistance mostly in the form of two men: Sanballat and Tobiah, enemies of God. Several times throughout Nehemiah’s ministry they tried to stop him, get him sidetracked, or outright kill him. Every time, Nehemiah figured them out way ahead of time, but it wasn’t because God met him in a dream or a vision to tell him: “Hey, Sanballat and Tobiah are at it again.” Nehemiah just knew because he knew his God that well and because he knew God that well, he could smell a trap a mile off. Nehemiah knew his God that well because he was constantly in fellowship with God. When you read his book, you see he prayed to God about everything and knew God’s Word well. That kind of fellowship knowledge is not something exclusive to Nehemiah. If you and I really want to know what God thinks, all we need to do is to get to know God like Nehemiah did and cultivate that fellowship knowledge.
Grace in Waves 