Oh Lord, you know all my desires, and my sighing is not hidden from you. – Psalm 38:9
The other day, I let out a particularly dramatic sigh, the kind that could curdle milk. Suzy swooped in like a hawk eyeing a particularly juicy mouse. “What’s wrong?” she inquired, her brow furrowed with concern.
Suzy, after fifty-three years of marriage, has become a veritable human lie detector. My sighs, my grunts, even my strategically placed silences – she deciphers them all with uncanny accuracy. It’s like she has a direct line to the divine, or at least to the deepest recesses of my soul.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled, attempting my usual feeble disguise.
“Don’t even try it,” she countered, her eyes twinkling. “I know that ‘fine’ translates to ‘my knee is acting up’ or ‘I’m worried about …’ or ‘I’m secretly craving a cookie.'”
Busted. Again.
If I can’t fool Suzy, the woman who knows the exact make-up of my sock drawer and the location of every pair of my reading glasses, then I haven’t got a prayer with the Almighty.
We humans like to kid ourselves. We think we can hide our petty jealousies, our secret indulgences, our late-night internet browsing history. But God? God sees it all. It’s like we live in a divine reality show, with God as the all-knowing, ever-present producer.
And then there’s Alexa. That little digital eavesdropper perched innocently on our countertop. Always listening. Always ready to fulfill our every whim. God, however, takes it a step further. God not only listens but also watches. It’s like having a 24/7 surveillance system installed right next to my pacemaker, except instead of Big Brother, you have Big Love.
Privacy? Forget about it. But unlike those pesky social media algorithms or the ever-intrusive government, God’s surveillance comes with a generous side of grace and mercy.
So, the next time I feel the urge to hide my inner turmoil, I’ll remember Psalm 38:9 and the ever-watchful eyes of Suzy. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll finally learn to be honest with myself, with her, and with the One who knows me better than I know myself.
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