Knowing Him Daily

19.March.2026

There is a knowing that only comes from the difficult places.

We have spent this week talking about knowing Him through His Word, through stillness, through recognizing His voice, through trust and obedience. But there is a depth of knowing that cannot be reached any other way than through the cost of following Him closely.

Paul understood this better than most. He wrote from prison, not from a comfortable chair, and what he said in Philippians 3:10 is important. The NKJV says, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” The ERV brings it closer, “All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him from death. I want to share in his sufferings and be like him even in his death.” And the AMPC opens it wide, “that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly.”

It’s progressive, deeper and more intimate. This is a word picture worth meditating on.

Paul is not talking about sickness or calamity. He is talking about the cost of standing with Jesus. The places where following Him is not comfortable or convenient. Where your reputation, your relationships, your comfort, or your security are on the line specifically because of your faith. That is the fellowship of His sufferings. Paul did not consider it a burden, but an invitation into a deeper knowing, a deeper understanding.

Here is what I have experienced. Some of the most intimate moments I have ever had with Him did not happen on the mountaintop. They happened in the places that cost me something. Where I had to choose Him over comfort, over approval, over what made sense to me and everyone around me. What I found in those places was a closeness that I could not have manufactured in any other way. That’s faith. 

The difficult places are not punishment. They are not the enemy winning. For the believer who stays close, they are the fellowship. They are the conforming. They are where knowing Him goes from surface to bone deep.

If you are in a difficult place today because of your faith, you are in good company. And you are closer to Him than you may realize.

If you are in a difficult place today, this song is for you.   https://youtu.be/eEPiuOYl2UM?si=g7ycV5NJipEqp_HJ

Make today count and see you tomorrow.