Knowing something to be true in your head is different than experiencing the reality in your life. So it is with our knowledge of God. We can know a lot about Him without actually knowing Him.
When Jesus prays in John 17:3, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent,” this is the kind of knowing that He is referring to. A firsthand, experiential knowing. A ginosko knowing. We know about God through reading and studying His Word, but we experience God as He reveals Himself to us in our lives. We know God’s Word is truth because we trust that every word is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), but we experience truth proving itself true as we live it out in our lives.
November 12th marked one year that Maureen has been gone. Her sister recently shared about a conversation that she had with Maureen just a few months before she entered into glory. Wanting to know what greater depth of knowledge of God her sister had come to in and through her suffering, she asked Maureen what it was that she was learning. And her response was simple, yet profound; that God was who she knew Him to be.
Maureen was referring to this ginosko knowing. She knew things to be true of God through His Word, but she was experiencing them to be true of Him in her suffering. What God says about Himself in His Word was becoming a reality in her life in a very new way.
And yet it does not take a cancer diagnosis to experience God in such a way. As described in the story behind So You Would Know, Maureen was well aware of God’s Presence everywhere, always. And where most of us miss His invitation for our attention in our day-to-day, Maureen delighted to stop and rejoice in His nearness.
John Piper once wrote, “What a wonderful experience it is when God grants us a moment in which we don’t take anything for granted, but see the world as though it were invented yesterday! How we would marvel at the wisdom of God.” This is why you could always find Maureen rejoicing.
Simplicity is the path to greater awareness of God’s nearness, and we hope that this shirt depicts that well. And for those that love Maureen, though it is just a shirt, we hope that her handwriting as well as a few of her favorite things are a gift to you as you grieve the loss. Always, everything is So We Would Know.
- Heavyweight pigment dyed crewneck sweatshirt, 9 oz.
- Pigment-dyeing process gives each garment unique vintage character
- 80% cotton/20% polyester blend with 100% cotton face
- Split stitch double needle sewing on all seams, twill tape neck
- 1x1 ribbing at neck, cuffs and waistband
- Standard unisex fit
