One of the things I tend to do is pace when I am feeling anxious. Stuff turns round and round in my head, and I get up and walk...back and forth, back and forth. I don't get anywhere. But I still pace. There have been times, though, when instead of pacing, I went for a drive. Occasionally a long drive. I don't really go anywhere though. And I always end up where I started. Usually at home or the office.
Worry can do that. It does not really take you anywhere. And it comes close to questioning if God knows where you are!
I enjoy Psalm 139 for that very reason. It contains some of my favorite, most comforting verses in the Bible:
Psa. 139:1 O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. 5 You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
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God is great, and here is one of the reasons why, right here in this section. This section is about the Omniscience of God. Omniscient means to know all things. God knows all things. In His greatness God knows 4 things absolutely and completely.
1 He knows the past. God knows all things that have ever happened exhaustively and completely. There are no secrets. Nothing is hidden from Him. He knows all the good (probably not much) that I have ever done. Nothing is missed or forgotten. He also knows all the bad. Yes the Bible does speak of forgetting our sins, but that is judicial forgetfulness. They will not be held against us. He saved us, knowing all that we would do. He knows everything that has been done to us. He knows all we have done to others.
2 He knows the present. He knows it exhaustively and completely. He never loses track of even a single atom in the cosmos. It all serves Him. He always knows what besets me. He is aware of every reaction, for good or for evil.
3 He knows the future. He knows how we will act and react to every circumstance. He knows what He is doing and how he is going to fulfill the plan that He has declared from eternity past. He knows where we all are going. He knows how long the money will last, and he knows how to refill the tank, or if he's not going to refill it. He knows how your test will be dealt with. He knows how to maneuver through and despite all the challenges to bring us to the best of all possible places. He knows how to allow the good and the bad into our lives to mold us into the person He wants us to be. And now matter how rebellious we are, redeemed or unredeemed, there is not a single thing we can do to stop it. As if you'd want to. After all, if getting to a full dinner at grandma's house means going hungry for a little bit, and then driving through some mud puddles on the way, would you let that stop you? Even so, God is taking us to the best of all possible places. Some day, we will all look back and realize why the challenges we faced had to be there.
4 He knows all things that could have happened. Now that's the most mind boggling of all. He knows what would have happened had you actually made the team, or not dropped the cake. He knows what would have happened if you actually gotten that job, or if you had left when things got a little tough. He knows what would have happened if you actually gotten that promotion, or if you had done the right thing in that moment long ago. Either way, God is not frustrated. We will bear the penalty and the blessing for our actions, but where we are, right now, today, is on the pathway to the best of all possible places.
This does not excuse our bad choices. Not one bit. All it means is that God is more than capable of redeeming, showing mercy, and using those things for our good and His glory. Its better to be obedient. We are not responsible for the outcome. Only for doing the right thing. But we must remain satisfied that, good or bad in our past, God is so working and so acting that, even when things seem hard, he really does completely and totally know that this is the way to the best of all possible places.
God is omniscient, so he is always giving me a "Checkup from the neck up." He's always examining my thoughts and my ideas. The word God uses in Psalm 130:1 is Chaqar. It means to thoroughly examine something. Have you ever bought a house or a car? Then you know how important it is to thoroughly examine the foundations and walls, the pipes and the furnace. You want to know where the cracks are. You want to know where the problems are in that car. God thoroughly examines us. Not with an evil eye. He is always working to repair.
God also knows us completely. The word for "to know" in verse 1 is the word used for what happens between a man and his wife. Yes in the so called "Biblical Sense." But not in the way you are thinking. The word is referring to the fact that both the man and the woman are unveiled before each other. There is nothing, no clothes to hide your nakedness. The idea behind the word speaks to the idea that you are absolutely bare before God. You can't hide anything.
You may have heard about the Mac and Cheese kid. We live in a day where when we publicly act out, everyone may very well soon know about it. That young man, Luke Gatti, now has his life laid before all. Its a shame really. He's really pretty much wrecked now. May God get a hold of him before he really does himself in!
But that's the thing. We all have done horrible, really embarrassing things that would destroy us if we were found out. Things that surely God would hate us for, because all humans would, right?
But that's why God is great. God knew all the bad you had done, but He still chose to save you. God knew everything you would do after you got saved. He still chose to redeem you. He sees us, even we totally blow it. Even when we know and are choosing to blow it, God still saved you, when you trusted Jesus Christ.
Wait a second. Have you trusted Jesus? Maybe that's why God has you reading this right now. It's not accident friend. Knowing all you have done, God wants to forgive you for your sins. Knowing you will still blow it someday down the road, He still wants you to receive His forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
You see, Jesus Christ died on the cross, not as some horrible act of cosmic waste. He died because His own Father in heaven planned for it. It was His plan to give up Jesus to evil, fallen people...people like you and me, and through that sacrifice to save us from our sins.
That's you and me.
God is ready to forgive you for your sins through Jesus Christ's sacrifice right now. Won't you ask Him to forgive you and take you into His forever love right now?
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