Under His Eye by Nancy White
The New Church Lady Blog
Matthew 6:6 [NIV] But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Whatever you are doing (like reading this) God is watching you. He is watching me as I write this on an airplane.
David understood that there was no place to escape God’s watchful eye, but also His presence, and he blogged – I mean wrote – about it. Psalm 139:7-12 [ESV] 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
Whether someone is trying to hide sin or bad behavior from God or striving to be noticed by God for good works, God is watching.
Matthew 6:2-4 [ESV] 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Both in both verse 4 and verse 6 of Matthew 6, Jesus tells us to do good things in secret and assures us that the Father will both see and reward them. We count on God to know when we are doing a good deed, quietly and without fanfare, as Jesus commanded us to do. And we count on Him to reward us in the Kingdom for it.
If I end up doing something or saying something I should not, whether that is public or private, I kind of hope God is otherwise occupied and doesn’t notice. Don’t you?
I believe what Jesus is asking us to do – to do our good deeds in secret, only for the eyes of God – is contrary to human nature, at least for most humans. Wouldn’t we rather people around us saw and knew of our good deeds and not just the Father?
Similarly, even though it isn’t what most of us want to do, although God tells us He is watching and sees it all, the Father also asks us to confess our sins to Him. This also seems against typical human nature. Wouldn’t we rather that no one – not God, nor our neighbors – saw our mistakes, faults and sins?
But why does God watch us always and everywhere? Is it to catch us in sin? Is it to catch us in good deeds? Having raised children myself, I would propose that He watches us because He loves us so much. As parents, aren’t we fascinated with every little thing our kids do? A parent recently sent me a video of her infant daughter putting her foot in her own mouth. So cute! And mommy thought it was fascinating enough to share.
When I chat with my grown children, I don’t just want to know their successes and failures. I want to know about that new podcast they are following, what books they are reading, how they are getting along with their new study group, if they are getting enough sleep, did they have a chance to surf this week or if they tried that vegetarian recipe we shared via WeChat. I am interested in the monumental and the mundane of my children’s lives. God is no less of an interested parent than I am. Every little thing we do interests Him.
He is also watching just in case we are in trouble and need Him. Isn’t that the message we find here: Matthew 10:29-31 [NKJV] 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
If you’ve lived as long as I have, you have known of one or more occasions when God swooped in with help before you even knew you needed it. That is because He is watching you and, in a way you and I never could, He is watching the events happening around us. We could think of that as a time when God reached out and said, “not this ‘sparrow’ – not today!” Nothing befalls us that He doesn’t know about.
We cannot see God, but God is watching. God is watching because He loves us. He is watching to keep us safe. He is watching to catch our good deeds so that He can reward us in the Kingdom. He watches 24/7/365. Whatever we do, whether good or evil, monumental or mundane, God cares to know about it. And so He watches. We are always under His eye.
That should provide great comfort.
Comments are currently closed.