Friday, January 14, 2011

January 14 A God Who Watches

Genesis 31:49-50  It was also at Mizpah, because he said, "May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.  If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me."

Laban is speaking to Jacob, warning him that God will be a witness to all the Jacob does in regard to Laban's daughters.  It is always amazing to me how God works, how he brings things into your life that you think are incidental or accidental, like this passage today, but which are in truth providential.  I think that happened this morning.

I was ready to begin my study when an unexpected visitor stood in my doorway asking if he could run something by me....well, what are you going to say?  It turns out that my visitor was very upset about the testimony of our school and of the behavior of people at some of our athletic contests.  The visitor told me of how one of the refs questioned the conflict between the prayers before and after the games and the words shouted between those two prayers.  In his mind, hypocrisy was the larger issue - saying one thing and then being another.  We talked and I listened and shared, and after the visitor left, the conversation weighed heavily on me.  Like my visitor, I was not sure exactly what to do about it, who to go to about it.

Then I came to these words - this verse where Laban reminds Jacob that God will be watching.  I don't think this is a warning exclusively for Jacob.  God does see it all, and hear it all.  He knows what and who we say we are, then he sees the evidence of our behavior and words that might put that in question. 

There just is no place where God is not aware of us - he sees us in the grocery line, at the sale, in the privacy of our room or home, in the theatre, at work - when no one else is looking, or so we think.  His presenfce can be a great comfort, and I think he wants it to be so; we really are never alone nor forsaken. BUT, we can also grieve him when he sees us betray who we are as his children by what we do or say.

I think about those people at the game who got so carried away with winning that they forgot who they are.  They yell at the ref, at the players, at the coaches.  No one is willing to take one for God.  By that I mean, there is something about an athletic contest (and perhaps lots of other events) where we want to win, and that desire to win means we are unwilling to participate as Spirit-controlled believers.  We become winning-controlled participants.  A wrong call incenses us.  My visitor said we should look at unfair calls as an opportunity to show how a Christian receives disappointment.  How powerful is that - to turn the other cheek?

So today, that is on my mind.  If God is watching me all the time, am I a blessing or a disappointment to him?  Do I take challenging situations as an opportunity to glorify him or serve myself?  What does my behavior say to those around me?

2 comments:

  1. It's funny how remembering God's omnipresence can be either comforting or disconcerting, depending on the situation. It's true that I have stopped dead in the middle of doing or saying (or even thinking) something, immediately aware that God KNEW exactly what I was up to in that moment.

    We know God is watching us, but we never know who else around us is paying attention to how we as Christians handle things. Responding well to tough situations or difficult people can be such a great testimony, even if we don't realize it.

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  2. Yes this is a very sobering thought. As I think about this I am also reminded that I have little eyes and ears around me who imitate my behavior. Yes, it is enough to know that God is watching, but when I realize that my actions will most likely be repeated by my children it makes me think even more about doing or saying the right thing.

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