He Knows

Recently I talked to a friend armed with a list of bitter accusations. She began what soon became a blame saga with the words, “You’ll never know…” Since that conversation those words have become my self-check. The words alone are innocuous, and what she had to say about others had some validity, but they were pillared upon inward-focus.

The truth is that no one will ever know the complete road any one has walked. I can never fully comprehend the sacrifices or suffering of another. It’s all too easy to become angry because no one understands, to feel sorry for myself, or to feel self-righteous.

Every time my mouth forms those words, “You’ll never know…” every time my mind thinks them, every time I hear them from someone else, I think of that conversation. I hear that lady’s tone, I hear her bitterness. I think of the hurt that followed, and I am reminded of the subsequent blessing those three words seared into my heart.

The blessing is that He knows. Jesus knows. He is there through every encouraging word and each discouraging word. He is there when I laugh and when I cry. He is there to see beauty beyond words and indescribable ugliness. He is there when it hurts and when it heals. No earthly parent, no husband, no friend can match that.