If you were to wander past many war graves, you would find this phrase on each tombstone, but why? Influential and eccentric author of The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling, lost his son John in the First World War and offered his services to what became known as The War Graves Commission. Despite having an eclectic view of life from early years in India and his deep involvement in Masonry, he suggested the phrase ‘Known Unto God’ be put on the tombstone of unknown soldiers. His life story makes for intriguing reading with all the ‘ins and the outs’ which, like all of us, are ‘known unto God’. He married Carrie Balestier aged 29 in 1892 when he was 26 – sadly their daughter Josephine died in 1899 from pneumonia. All known unto God. How about you? The twists and turns of life are all ‘known unto God’ but are you still ‘on side’ with him or have you put him on the outside?
- ‘There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know’ – Donald Rumsfeld
- ‘The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths’ – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
- ‘If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all’ – Dan Rather
- ‘Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God’ – Corrie Ten Boom
Most of the things you have done in your life, good and bad, are unknown to the people around you. Acts of courage and kindness may have been unseen by your acquaintances but they are all known unto God. The thing about God is that he has seen the best and the worst of you but still loves you. There is not one circumstance in your life or reason for an action you took that God does not understand for although there are many mysteries to us, there are non to him.
Dutchman Casper ten Boom was fascinated by mechanical watches and passed on the skills of watch making to his daughter Cornelia Arnolda Johanna born in 1892 who would become famous as ‘Corrie’. Living during the Nazi occupation of World War II, she and her family took remarkable risks to save many Jewish people. She didn’t know that this would lead to being sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp where her sister Betsie and other family members would die. Years later she came face to face with one of the cruel prison guards and somehow found strength to forgive him. All known to God.
It is just as well that we don’t know the future for there are some things that may well greatly test our faith and try us to the very core. We don’t know how we will react until we face such matters of life and death but we do know what God promises when we face them.
- ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you’ – Deuteronomy 31:6
- ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’ – Philippians 4:6-7
- ‘In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now’ – 1 Corinthians 13:12 (TLB)
- ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love’ – John 15:9
God’s promises are to uphold us and that he is for us not against us. Even when we feel overwhelmed by circumstances, weighed down by insecurity or isolated in the darkness of grief, God knows us and has plans for our good – we must keep trusting him, especially at those times. So take his help on board as you face the unknown – walk humbly, act justly and love mercy in all your dealings for he sees it all and still cares for you. Wherever you may be and whatever you are facing, remember the Lord who is your shepherd knows it all and asks you to trust him and abide with him.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word,
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.
Come not in terror, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings;
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea.
Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide with me.
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile,
And though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee.
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Sung at many big sporting events, this deeply personal hymn was written by Scottish Anglican cleric Henry Francis Lyte in 1847 as he was dying from tuberculosis. It is a prayer for God to be close through the ‘knowns’ and ‘unknowns’ of life. Here it is sung by Audrey Assad with beautiful video footage:
