The Lord looks down from heaven
and sees the whole human race.
From his throne he observes
all who live on the earth.
He made their hearts,
so he understands everything they do.
Psalm 33:13-15 (NLT)
The other night we were at our friends’ house. Wendy and I had brought the gift of books for their two young boys and enjoyed watching them unwrap their gifts. It was fascinating to watch as the older child spied to see what the younger child got (“Did he get a better book than me??!”), then attempted to grab little brother’s book right out his hands for inspection. We then watched as the younger one played the victim card with pitch perfect precision: screams of rage and crocodile tears turned on with an invisible switch on his brain. Back and forth the sibling rivalry and angst flowed. The adults watched with patient understanding and the parents did their best to navigate the bubbling cauldron of childish emotions.
God reminds us time and time again that our relationship with Him is that of parent and child. To God, we must all be like little children acting out. Even as adults, our emotional tirades and self-centered actions must seem to Father God as the acts of a toddler to us.
Today, I’m glad that my heavenly Father knows my heart, even when this grown up child is naughty.
While reading Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler (which I recommend!) my favorite name of God quickly became El Roi (pronounced raw-ee), the “God Who sees me”. Not only does He see all my mistakes, but He sees all my pain, sees all my good intentions, sees me right where I am and knows exactly what He can do with my life. He sees my past, present, and future and knows exactly how to graft them all into His master plan. I think that’s one of my favorite parts of Him.