I have at times loved to do this, and at other times have struggled with knowing. Knowing isn’t about hunting for more information. Knowing is not the same as, nor does it require learning.
To know is simply to have a personal experience with the matter. To learn is to acquire more information that is assimilated into how we understand a matter.
How we know something can be about learning styles. I am primarily an auditory learner, with some kinesthetic mixed in. I like to hear and/or do something to learn. In my efforts to know Him, I revert to approaching Him with the intent to learn more about Him. When I don’t feel like learning, I drift into passive entertainment or learning about something else that interests me. I often also forget my love of music while I bury my mind into listening to a podcast, watching a video, or reading countless timely articles about work that I love doing. While again these things have their place, it isn’t a way to live or operate from.
When God calls us to know Him, He isn’t calling us to listen to more sermons, read more books, or even read the Bible any more than we already have. Those all have their place, but when He calls us to know Him, it is a calling to lay aside all these other things and just be with Him in that moment.
This is the same with fellowship. We aren’t there to relay more information, though it’s well-meaning. I have really struggled with oversharing information to be helpful to others. When I experience others doing so to me, it makes me incredibly annoyed until I remember that they mean well. In my moment of emotional lapse, I feel rather insulted that they didn’t know me well enough to know that I have already experienced that lesson and therefore their information is no longer relevant.
Psalms 46:10 Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth! (http://bible.com/8/psa.46.10.amp)
Break away from the quest to learn, from the demand to keep up with information, from the urge to connect with others or even to be as isolated as possible. Invite Him in to this moment. Put the information and learning aside. There are no expectations in this moment. There is no need to become any more prepared. Just be.
When you are in the company of others, stop and see if the information you feel compelled to share is really in the right moment and truly is adding to the experience, or just passing around more information to sort out. Does your story. quote from some author, or words that you felt God shared with you need to be shared with others for them to have an experience with Him or is it just another method of learning versus knowing?
I am committing today to lay aside my quest to learn, or even to help others learn and instead focusing on knowing. It’s so much less pressure and far more enjoyable.