For I Have Seen

“Do You also see what has been done to me?” 

I wrote that question in the margin of my daily reading Bible.

• It started on January 13 with Psalm 11:3-4 and the idea that God watches everything closely.
• January 14, it was Genesis 31:12, which is where I wrote the question in the margin after I’d seen it was a repeated theme.
• Also on the 14^th,  there was Psalm 12:5
• On the 15^th, it was Genesis 31:42, Matthew 10:29, Psalm 13:1
• And then on the 16^th, it was Psalm 14:2
• And as I’m writing this on the 17^th, it was Matthew 12:10.

I went back and wrote “Do You also see what has been done to me?”

I’m positive that God sees me if ever I’m sinning, doing something wrong, making a stupid mistake, or finding myself in an embarrassing place of having said something that wasn’t quite right.  I know it’s a completely wrong-headed view of God—to see Him as the “red light camera in the sky,” just waiting to photograph my license plate as I’m going quickly through the intersection on deep red-orange.

Maybe it’s that I have an overactive conscience that can’t let me do bad stuff without being completely convinced I’ll be caught.  I know God sees my wrongdoing and the Bible tells me there is grace for that when one trusts in Christ (and also by His mercy sometimes even when we don’t) because God is love and has a gracious character.

What I really wonder, in my darkest moments I guess, is whether He sees when other people do bad things, particularly when I’m receiving the wrong end of the stick.    Does He see when friends betray, speak critically, or turn their backs?  Does He see when injustice or prejudice or discrimination happen?  Does He see the hungry, the poor, the needy, the infirmed, the dejected, the lonely, or the depressed among us?

The answer is a resounding “Yes!”  Why, then, do I wonder whether He sees?

Maybe our difficulty with knowing that He sees is that oftentimes His actions are not what we want.  We want Him to put a stop to the problems and the injustices.  We want Him to reward the faithful and throw lightning bolts on evildoers.  We want Him to shower His loving care upon people who’ve left everything to follow Him (and maybe to add a little flair, to deprive those who’ve passed Him by…just so they know what a good thing they’re missing).

Then today, I came to Matthew 12:18-21 in my daily Bible readings.  The particular daily reading version I’m using is the New Living Translation because I wanted a hard copy of the NLT for my library even if I use a variety of other translations for study purposes.

Matthew 12:18

“Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.

    He is my Beloved, who pleases me.

I will put my Spirit upon him,

    and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

 

19  He will not fight or shout

    or raise his voice in public.

 

20  He will not crush the weakest reed

    or put out a flickering candle.

    Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.

 

21  And his name will be the hope

    of all the world.”

Justice is first proclaimed, then He brings it in His final victory.  For some, like the man with the deformed hand, we’ll have evidence that God sees us and takes action immediately.  For others of us, we may not see justice right now, but “Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.  He is my Beloved.”  Looking to Jesus, knowing His faithfulness, we can rest knowing that He is our hope.  We learn to operate by faith, trusting Him when He says, “For I have seen.”