from Rachel: God All-Knowing and All-Powerful / Letter to Kerstin

How often have you wondered if God knows what’s going on in your life? Your heart? Does He see what happens in your family? Can He have any idea about the struggles you face? Tell me your thoughts.

“Wow! Those questions are a foreign concept to me. Each sounds completely ludicrous to my ears.”

God knows:

• “the misery of His people in slavery in Egypt
• “every motive behind every thought
• “a man’s ways and all his paths
• “the wicked and the good
• “all the things we need (and want) in daily life
• “how many hairs are on every person’s head”

How does the omniscience of God give you comfort?

“I can leave it to Him.”

How does that truth make you tremble?

“There’s no fooling Him.”

Look at the list of characteristics and use the words to write a note for someone who comes to mind. What would you remind him or her about the nature of God?

“Kerstin, I know your daily schedule leaves you feeling exhausted and often defeated. Keep fighting the good fight, leaning on God and letting His strength be your strength. He has the power. He loves you and wants what’s best for you.”

Dearest Rachel –

I’m sure the reason that the first set of questions seemed so odd to you is because the answers had always been second nature. Of course He knows everything that was going on. Of course He sees what happens. Of course He has more idea about the struggles we face than even we do. You’d known this all along, to the point where questioning it would never even have occurred to you had the study book itself not brought it up.

That is one thing about being brought up in the faith; the fact that some might naturally question whether God is there, and whether He actually has a handle on things, or knows what’s going on, or – more to the point – whether He cares, doesn’t come naturally to us. Even without looking up the references, we internalized most of what they say about the things God knows about.

Of course, this also means that the application of what they mean doesn’t come naturally to us either. It’s almost a fact that we know, rather than something we learn – and by extension, learn how to apply. For myself, I know intellectually that He knows, sees, and understands my sense of loss regarding you, but I still find myself wondering, does He really? Jesus wept to see Lazarus’ tomb, but did He really comprehend, as a human, the eternity that it would be before He would see him alive again? Especially since He was fully aware that He would instead bring him back within a few minutes?

I wonder if He experienced that sense of loss when his father Joseph vanished from the picture (however that happened).

You’re right that His omniscience is a bit of a double-edged sword. Even as everything is in His hands, we need to bring everything to Him, without bothering to hide, spin or gloss over the parts that we would just as soon do so about. Like with any earthly doctor, we can only be healed of our diseases when we are honest with him about our symptoms.

And which I would wish for a letter from you directed toward me, I understand your choice of recipient. You chose her because you saw in her someone whose life was full of responsibilities and worries, and I can’t argue with your choice. I don’t know if you ever sent such a note to her directly, or if you would be bothered were I to forward this on to her, but at this point, I don’t see the harm. I think such a letter would be every bit as welcome now to her as then. And on her behalf, I thank you.