Wholly Known

In this episode of Wifey Wednesdays, Emily Hatfield explores the deeply encouraging truth that we are fully and completely known by God. Drawing from Scripture and personal testimony, she reminds listeners that belonging to Jesus means we are never unseen, forgotten, or alone.

Emily reflects on how Jesus consistently showed others that He saw them personally—whether it was Peter’s empty fishing nets, Nathanael under the fig tree, or the outcasts and grieving people He welcomed with compassion. That same attentive care is true for us today.

The episode centers on the beauty of Psalm 139, where David marvels at the intimate knowledge God has of each individual life: our thoughts, words, paths, and even the days written for us before we were born. God’s knowledge is not distant or impersonal—it is loving, detailed, and constant.

Emily also shares her own experience of grief, depression, and losing her mother, offering a powerful reminder that God meets His children in the darkest moments. Through a meaningful “God moment” involving a necklace inscribed with John 14:18 (“I will not leave you as orphans”), she highlights how God’s comfort often comes in deeply personal ways.

Ultimately, this episode invites wives to rest in the truth that God knows every part of us—our struggles, our fears, our sins, and our sorrow—and still loves us completely. Being wholly known by God is not something to fear, but a source of strength, comfort, and hope.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Emily Hatfield

Author, Podcaster, Ladies Speaker

What is Wifey Wednesdays?

Wifey Wednesdays: A show for women that focuses on the Titus 2 principle: learning to love our husband and our children, and being the keepers at home that God intends for us to be. Wifey Wednesdays, hosted by Emily Hatfield, is released every Wednesday.

Hello and welcome to Wifey Wednesdays, a podcast for women who are seeking to be the best wives they can be. I’m your host, Emily Hatfield, and this is the show where the plan is always to do things God’s way, especially our marriages.

Today we are looking at what it means to be wholly known by God. Now obviously this isn’t going to be an exhaustive lesson because otherwise we’d be here for ages, talking about the depth to which God knows us. I mean, think about it: we’re told that God knows the number of hairs on our head according to Luke 12:7. As you can tell, I’ve got a whole lot of hair - so there is really no way we could possibly discuss really and truly how deeply God knows us and all the things that He knows about us.

But today, I want us to be encouraged that we are known - we are seen - we are cared for - and you don’t have to feel alone if you belong to Jesus.

It seems like so much of Jesus’ ministry was about making sure people knew this. He knew whether or not Peter had had any success in his business - aka caught any fish. He tells Nathanael in John 1 that He saw him sitting under the fig tree before Philip called him. Jesus wanted these disciples to know that He saw them and that He cared for them. He took time to be with the little children, with the outcasts, with women who were looked down on by others, with those who were unclean, with those who were grieving, with those who were alone. Jesus was always showing up and showing how much He both knew and cared.

The same is true for us.

There is a beautiful psalm of David all about this— Psalm 139. I want to read parts of it to you — it’s 24 verses long and it’s beautiful, so you should take the time to soak it all in if you get the chance.

Starting in verse 1, David begins -

O Lord, You have searched me and known me,
You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all together.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me.

Notice in just these opening 5 verses how many singular pronouns David uses. It isn’t - God knows US and sees US. He sees ME. He knows ME. My lying down, My thoughts, My words. God sees me, individually, and He sees you.

Think about it —Here is the God of the entire universe. He breathed life into literally everything. We have an earth because He spoke it into existence. We have plants and animals, the sun and the stars, gold and jewels, power and energy - all because this God who looks at me and cares for me created all of those things. How unworthy we are to have His divine attention! It’s no wonder David says in verse 6 - “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.”

This is too good. Having God know me - see me - care for me - it’s too much. It’s too great. Because I know me. And I know Him. I am not worthy of His gaze.

But His eye is on me. David continues - “Where shall I go from Your spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence?” He goes on to basically say - as high or as low, as far east or west, in the deepest and darkest places God is there, seeing me and caring for me and being with me. When I’m awake, when I’m asleep - God sees, God knows.

And He has known and see from the very beginning. From before my memories - He was there. “You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” David says in verse 13. Verses 15-16 say, “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

Pause for a minute and think about this: from before you were you, God knew every single day that was formed for you. Before anyone knew you were coming, God knew. Before anyone could see you, God could. He is the Author of Life, and no life is made without His knowledge — thus we are fully known, always.

Nobody gets us like God gets us. He has seen every single thing that has happened to us that has shaped us into who we are. Every hard day. Every triumph. Every setback. Every sin. Every tearful cry of repentance. He has seen all of our days and promised to be with us through each one - loving us and sustaining us and providing for us along whatever path we may find ourselves on.

This life, it surprises me - what about you? No part of me ever expected postpartum depression…or this newfound just regular old depression because apparently after so many years you can’t keep claiming postpartum. Who knew!

No part of me expected to lose my mom when I was just trying to figure out how to be a mom to two very small children. But God knew. And He hasn’t left.

In fact, He’s shown up in many ways that I also never expected. I’ve told you the story about my favorite necklace, haven’t I? If so, sorry about the repeat. If not, here goes. I was packing for my mom’s funeral — because I lived 12 hours away, and she was dying, and I needed to leave my house and go to be with her. So, she’s not dead and I’m packing for a funeral I never thought would ever happen and I am, as you can guess, a total mess. So I go to my jewelry box to pick out something to take with me, because if shock can do anything it’s make you keep going in the midst of unbearable situations. So I’m standing there, looking for something to take to this funeral, and I see a necklace that I’d bought when I graduated from college from someone who was doing a fundraiser for mission work. I had literally never worn that necklace. I just bought it to support this person’s mission work. But, in that moment, I picked it up and I saw this hand stamped verse citation, which I had no clue what it was, and I was intrigued. I go and look up the verse and, wouldn’t you know, it’s Jesus saying “I will not leave you as orphans.”

That moment will forever be one of my favorite God moments. It was awful. And sometimes thinking about it is equal parts wonderful and awful. But it’s amazing to me, because in that lowest of lows - in one of the darkest moments of my life - God was there. He’d seen the day I’d ordered the necklace. He’d seen all the days in between — packing it and moving it to four different houses at that point. And He’d seen me on this day and shown me — I know you, I see you, I care for you. I’m not going anywhere.

Now, you may question some of that - but I feel like saying something is a coincidence is robbing God of the glory He is due.

He is amazing! He is the God of all comfort, and He has shown up for me time and again in my deepest grief. How does He do that? It’s because He knows me. He knows when I need Him. He knows when I’m desperate. He knows when I’m down and defeated. He knows it all, and He makes Himself known in ways where we can magnify and praise Him for His goodness and mercy.

I mean, think about Psalm 23. Isn’t that what the end says? Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life? Well, when they do - shouldn’t we attribute that to God? He’s the One who knows just when to step in - He knows just what we need and when we need it. He knows the friends we need, the sermon we need, the verses we need, the rebuke we need, the comfort we need. He knows because He knows US - individually.

I am beyond grateful when I think about God knowing me. And I’m thankful that He knows me better than I know myself. If you’d have asked me, I would have said there was no way I could keep going in the face of postpartum depression or in losing my mom. But He knew I could, because He knew He would be with me.

When Moses was called from that burning bush, he felt like he was the wrong choice..but God made sure that Moses knew that God knew him…and that he was the right choice. God knew he was a murderer. God knew he was afraid. God knew where he’d begun in that little basket, and He knew how he’d grown up in privilege and torn between two peoples. God knew him and He used Moses for His glory- because only a God who knows all things about us can place us exactly where we need to be in order to glorify Him to our greatest capability.

And so today, if you are going through something hard - remember that God knows. He knows you and He is with you in it. He will help and equip you. He will comfort and strengthen you. He knows what is more than you can handle - and He takes care of that. He makes up the difference. He is so, so good, and He wants to be so, so good to you — even though He knows all of the terrible things you and I try to hide from everybody else. He knows every thought and every word and still He loves us and wants to be ours!

Let yourself be given over fully to God’s all-seeing eye. He’s going to know all the things — but you can open your heart to Him as David does and say, “search me , O God, and know my heart” Invite Him in. Welcome His presence and knowledge of your life and situation. Let His knowledge give you comfort! He wants to know you. He is invested in you — so invested! He sent His son to die for you — He’s that invested. So be comforted by the fact that this amazing God knows and loves you more than you can even fathom. Your darkest parts don’t scare Him away or make Him love you less. The more He knows you the more He wants to. He created you. So let’s allow the fact that we’re fully known to give us strength to face another day — because it’s a day He already knows and can lead us through capably.

Thanks so much for being with me for another episode of this podcast, I hope you’ll join me next week as we talk about what it means to wholly delight in the Lord. Thanks again for listening, and until next time remember - love God, love your husband.