It is not difficult to appreciate that there is a difference between knowing and knowing. One can know of, or know about, or know intimately, or used to know. The phrase which comes to my mind most often when I am faced with my degree of knowing has to do with not remembering whether I know or not.

Some years ago a friend of mine was relating an event he experienced when he came to the small town as the new pastor. He was stopping in at the local store and saw two cowboys on the porch. He stepped inside and overheard one man say to the other that he was the new pastor. The other man said he knew so, having “Howdy’ed, but never shook”.

In a real sense Jonah had “Howdy’ed” with the God of Israel. He knew of this God, and he certainly knew a lot about him, as we read in 4.2: He prayed to the LORD, ‘O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish.’ Yes, he knew a lot about God.

But what did he know? He continues: ‘I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.’ He knew what God had done toward Israel, and suspected what he would do with others, but he never made this God Jonah’s God. This God was not the God he wanted! HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR GOD?