perfect vision

when i'm speaking on a sunday morning, i have no trouble looking at you guys and saying with conviction that God knows each of us intimately. but when i get up in an airplane, like i did a couple weeks ago, that whole thought process goes a little screwy. when i'm up there, i can't see all the thousands and millions of people that God supposedly knows so lovingly and loves so knowingly.  it really messes me up sometimes.

but the other day in my prayer time i was reading psalm 11. check out verse 4: "the Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. he watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth."

i closed my bible and began to pray around this verse. here's where i went...

God has perfect vision. perfect. not just 20/20, but perfect. he really can see absolutely everything. we think 20/20 is perfect, but it's only perfect for imperfect humans. God's perfection is so far beyond what we can imagine as perfect.

there is no hindrance to what God can see like there is for me. he sees it all. on the one hand, God sees everything about my past, unhindered: my regrets, my failings, my sins. i'm not sure i want him to see all that, but if he does, i might as well face up to that fact. on the other hand, God also sees my future:  my potential, the things i can accomplish. and because i am in Christ, he sees me as holy, redeemed, loved. nothing can hinder that either. and man, that is comforting. he sees the child he loves. he sees the stuff ahead in my life. and nothing takes him by surprise. i may not be able to seee around the next corner, but he can, and if he is with me and for me (see romans 8:31), then i can relax in that. i mean think about it - if God can see everything perfectly and unhindered, then what am i always so worried about. relax man. trust him.

a guy named david, the greatest king in the history of israel, seemed to know this when he wrote psalm 139, about 3000 years ago. spend some time reading this psalm slowly. and if anything strikes you that you don't mind sharing with me, send me a comment. i'd love to know if any of this connects with somebody besides me. thanks.

here we go:

PSALM 139

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart

      and know everything about me.

 2 You know when I sit down or stand up.

      You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

 3 You see me when I travel

      and when I rest at home.

      You know everything I do.

 4 You know what I am going to say

      even before I say it, Lord.

 5 You go before me and follow me.

      You place your hand of blessing on my head.

 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

      too great for me to understand!

 7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
      I can never get away from your presence!
 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
      if I go down to the grave, you are there.
 9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
      if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
 10 even there your hand will guide me,
      and your strength will support me.
 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
      and the light around me to become night—
    12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
   To you the night shines as bright as day.
      Darkness and light are the same to you.

 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
      and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
      Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
      as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
 16 You saw me before I was born.
      Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
   Every moment was laid out
      before a single day had passed.

 17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
      They cannot be numbered!
 18 I can’t even count them;
      they outnumber the grains of sand!
   And when I wake up,
      you are still with me!