DEVOTION//God groks us

Do you know the work "grok"?

American author Robert Heinlein coined the terms in his science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961). He used it to describe Martian culture, particularly their ability to intuitively understand each other, to fully empathize with each other, to communicate sympathetically with each other.

Grok: empathy and more

Since 1961, grok has found its ways into the vocabulary of psychology. There it describes the need we feel to have someone in our lives who "gets" us, who understands our perception of life-events, who empathizes with us on a deep level.

Without having that intimate connection with other people, we tend to feel alone, isolated, invisible.

Obviously, no other person can completely understand us. No two us have the same life experiences or the same point of view from which to interpret those experiences.

The Spirit: the grok master

But the Holy Spirit doesn't have those restrictions. He knows everything. He understand everything. He reads the state of our souls better than we understand ourselves.

"We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies," Romans 8:23 tells us. The Greek word for groan describes an internal pressure that causes anguish.

The Spirit groks and acts

But the good news is, the Spirit understands. In fact, our groanings cause him to groan for us. Even when we don't know what to pray for, he knows and he presents those requests before the Father's throne. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God" (Romans 8:26.27).

The Spirit groks us! He understands. He is sympathetic to our situation. He empathizes. But he does more. He acts on our behalf. He acts in our best interests.

Romans 8:28-30 adds, "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."

God’s grok flows from grace

Such is the grace we find in our Father's heart. Love we don't deserve prompted our God to sacrifice his Son so we could have a Savior. Love we don't deserve prompts his Spirit to care for us, even at the most intimate levels of our being.

Our God groks us!