God Sees

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)

Recently, I heard my four-year old son hit his two-year old sister. I can tell by the grunt sound he makes and the crying she makes. I shouted from the next room that he was not to hurt his sister and to apologize to her. He yells back to me, “But you didn’t see me!” I say, “It doesn’t matter if I saw you, apologize!” He again says, “But you didn’t see me!”

My son is at an age where he is not to good at hiding his wrong doing. Unfortunately, we do get better at hiding these things from our parents and authorities. By the time we are adults, many of us are experts at deception. When the boss is around, we “look busy”. When the boss is not around, we chat with co-workers, surf the internet, and make personal phone calls. Even if these activities are allowed at your job, we want to keep them hidden so that we appear as dedicated, hard workers in the eyes of our employers.
How about when your spouse is away? Do you secretly spend money? Do you have internet activities that you hide from your spouse?

We think that we are masters of deception, but just like my young son, we are unable to hide anything from our Heavenly Father. To him, we are just as naïve as my son in thinking that no one sees. “He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?” (Psalms 94:9) God sees, hears, and knows everything that we do.

If the idea of our heavenly Father looking over your shoulder every moment of every day sounds nerve-wracking, it should not. Not only does God see the bad, He sees the good and He sees the pain and He cares. He is there at every vulnerable moment. I am often reminded of how my Father in heaven cares for me. He demonstrates it daily through my two small children. I do know when they misbehave even if I am in another room. I also know when there is danger or one of them is hurt. I know how hard-headed they can be about obeying me and am reminded how hard-headed I am to obey God’s commands.

Small children have many scrapes and falls on a daily basis. My two children run to me crying and I pick them up, hug them, and give them a kiss. Magically that cures their pain and they are off playing again. The more serious injuries require a little more hugging and holding tight. Just as I do this for my children, God comforts me. Just as I wipe away their tears, God does this for me. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.” (Psalms 103:13)

Another aspect about God’s Presence is that He is continually protecting us and preparing the pathway. As good parents always “baby proof” the environment, God has done this for us our entire lives. We may never know how many accidents and traps we may have avoided in our lives, because we like a baby just do our own thing without realizing that our parents have went through and covered the outlets, put things out of reach, and removed the poisons. Many believe it is angels that protect us, but they are servants of our Heavenly Father, Who is all-knowing and ever present.

Recently, I had a sobering thought about the parent-child relationship. I thought, “Why is it that I want my children to grow up without getting involved in drugs (or any other sinful activity)?” Is it because they would be defying our family rules? No. Is it because it would personally embarrass the family? No. Is it because to be a part of this family, you have to obey all the rules? No. It is simply because I do not want to see my children in pain or suffering. Simply stated, it is because I love them. This thought gave me a new perspective about how God feels about sin and about His children. God loves each of us and hates sin because of His holiness, but also because sin makes us suffer. He hurts for us like we hurt for our children, but on an even deeper level. God is ever with us, not to catch us “red-handed”, but to protect us and guide us. His presence is desirable and when we acknowledge that Presence in our lives, it is then that we find peace and comfort. We can “curl up on His lap” and find that sweet, warm embrace—like a small child and his mother or father. It is a sweet, sweet place.

“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” (Mark 10:15)