God’s Awareness #1—Carefully Watching

We live in a surveillance society. CCTV cameras observe our movements in public. Internet service providers and search engine applications track our movements in cyberspace. Nearly 600 spy satellites circle the globe, and our phones can be tracked through the GPS satellite system. Despite this pervasive scrutiny of our lives, we can be free of observation by other people in some areas of our lives. But every aspect of our lives is open to God. He knows when and where we go. No one is hidden from his sight. He knows what we say and even what we think. “He looks down from heaven and sees all of us.” But more than just seeing us, he watches over us. This is good news. With this in mind, we can fine-tune our faith for those times when we feel isolated and alone.

Yahweh carefully watches the whole earth, always ready to strengthen those who are committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

Modern military surveillance equipment scans the battlefield, searching for an exploitable weakness. Troops under its scrutiny anxiously fear their deficiencies will be discovered. They expend energy to camouflage their defects, depleting the energy needed to press the fight. They dissipate energy fretting over ways to deceive the watchers as to their true capabilities—creativity that could have been used more productively. But God is not our enemy. He’s watching, but not to determine our weakness; he already knows we are weak. We are but dust, and our lives are a vapor: finite in body and mind, we are intimately acquainted with our limitations, even though we do not like acknowledging them. God watches us because he wants to strengthen us. He looks for weak people who are committed to him. He pays attention to the righteous, to those who lovingly obey him. When our backs are to the wall, when we are in desperate straits, when the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be a freight train on a collision course, God is ready and eager to come to our aid. Excluding God from our solution matrix is not a wise course of action. When Jesus faced difficult situations throughout his life, he did not put God to the test by seeking to save himself; he remained committed to the Father’s promises to provide for him in every situation. Now he and the Father are available to come to our aid when we face trials that test the strength of our commitment.

Almighty God, who works for those who hope in you, perfect the power of your grace in every moment of my weakness.