The Perfect Storm: Psalm 139

There is no one who knows me like my God.

Psalm 139 is my absolute favorite passage in the entire Bible. Forgive me for my simplified paraphrase.

You search for me, and you know me.
You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You know when I go out and when I go to sleep.
You know what I will say before my words are formed.
You go behind me and in front of me.
There is nowhere that I can go, and you are not there.
You created me and know my innermost thoughts and feelings.
You knew me in my mother’s womb before I was formed.
And you knew the number of my days before I was even born.

No one knows me like my God. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses, my history and the emotional struggles that remain, He knows what is good for me and what is not, and He knows how all of it works together for my good.

He is all-knowing, and His plans are perfect.

I recently faced a storm that challenged me to my core, where my present reality merged with my past experiences. The perfect storm. Like all good believers, the first thing that I did was to blame the enemy – thinking that clearly, it was a plot that Satan had created to discourage and destroy me. Surely the enemy knew my thoughts and those deep-set emotions that are still raw. Surely, the enemy knew the future events of the day and how they would collide with my already raw emotions. And surely the enemy had all control to set things in motion to knock me off my feet.

But. I was wrong.

I had to remind myself of a few truths we rarely consider. A few truths put our trials and challenges back into perspective, and a few truths take the credit away from the enemy who does not deserve it and give it back to God where credit is due.

Satan is not God’s counterpart. He is not God’s dark twin with equal abilities.

Satan is not omniscient—all-knowing, seeing our thoughts, feelings, and innermost struggles. Only God has that power.

Satan is not omnipresent – everywhere at the same time, in our past and future, knowing what will happen to us and when it will happen. Only God has that power.

Satan is not omnipotent – all-powerful, having complete control over the events in our lives and the ability to bring destruction outside of God’s will. Only God has that power.

God has no beginning and no ending. Satan was created and will be destroyed (Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 12: 12-14; Revelation 20:10).

Not every challenge, trial, and hardship in our lives was brought on by the enemy. Some of the challenges we face allow us to grow, learn, and heal. Do I understand it all? Absolutely not—if I did, I would be God’s equal. His ways are higher than ours—He has a plan and knows what works together for our good. We are to rest in His plans, even the perfect storm.

Sometimes, external challenges collide with our innermost struggles to create a storm that will resurrect things from underneath the surface of the waters. Someone may say something or do something that brings back old hurts and old emotions – feelings of loneliness, abandonment, jealousy, anger, pain, grief, and confusion. When these things happen, we tend to automatically blame the enemy and give him credit for being powerful enough to have orchestrated the event.

My go-to thought is typically….. “Satan knows that this is a struggle for me and knows just how to trip me up.” Truth be known, the enemy is not smart enough, nor is he powerful enough to have pulled that off. That perfect storm you are now facing may be from God. He may have allowed circumstances to put you in a different place, wake up your spirit, and open up old wounds so that they could be dealt with and healed to prepare the ground of your life for the future that only He knows.

So, stop giving the enemy more acknowledgment than he is due. Satan’s power is limited, and in fact, he is not only a liar but also a deceiver and a coward.

Are you facing a storm? Are you facing a complicated internal struggle that no one would understand even if you could explain it? Remember that God is the only one who knows your hidden thoughts, your hidden struggles, and the timeline of your life. He is the all-powerful one who works all things together for your good. So don’t give the enemy credit for bringing something into your life to destroy you when it may be God allowing the storms to come to bring healing. He has all power and dominion – allow Him to be the all-knowing, all-present, and all-powerful God that He is.