by Randy
Frazee
"The LORD will
watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." Psalm 121:8
(NIV)
Psalm 121:8 makes a proclamation that is hard to
believe: "The LORD will watch over your coming and going both
now and forevermore." Does the Lord really watch over me perpetually? How
is this even possible? I didn’t have a mental model for the mere scope of this
assignment. That is until my daughter introduced me to an app called
RunKeeper.
This app tells me how far I’ve run, the average
time per mile and my overall time, down to the second. It graphs the various
elevations and shows me an overview map of exactly where I have run. If
I showed you my run history, you would see maps of beaches, mountains and all
kinds of locations and terrains around the world.
Here’s what’s even more amazing. RunKeeper not only
tracks and records my locations, it does so for 10 million
other runners as well! If humans can invent a piece of technology to track the
steps of 10 million people simultaneously, is it really much of a stretch to
believe God can track 6 billion of us?
I guess not. God is transcendent; He is above all.
God is also immanent; He is near. Very near.
How near? A few verses earlier the writer tells us
"… the LORD is your shade at your right hand;" (Psalm
121:5b, NIV).
So, I now have a mental concept of God’s capacity
to watch and track all of my comings and goings, now and forevermore. Yet, I am
still left with one more puzzling question — why?
Why would God want to do this? Most of my days
would make an insomniac fall asleep. Personally, I love my routine and the minor
assignments on my "to do" list. I just can’t see how this could possibly be a
good use of the Divine Creator’s time.
The answer is not hard to find. It is stamped on
almost every page of Scripture. God watches over our coming and our going now
and forevermore because He loves us and cares deeply for
us.
Easy to understand, but hard to grasp that the one
true God over all deeply loves and cares about us.
Right now I am sitting in a hospital room. My
grandson arrived into the world yesterday. As he lies in his crib, I tower over
him watching his every move — every twitch of his eye, and every move to the
right or to the left. A yawn is big news. The smirk on his face evoked by gas
sure looks like a genuine smile in my book.
To anyone else, this would seem like a colossal
waste of time. Not for me or my wife or daughter or son-in-law. I love my
grandson. Oh my, this is how God feels about me but with so much more depth and
perfection. Somehow, we must all come to terms with this reality and soak it
in.
Right now, my grandson has no clue of my intense
love and protection over him. One day he will. The same is true for us with God.
We wander through life unaware He has been tracking us morning and night. The
goal is to one day become aware of God’s presence in our lives. When we do, we
write our own Psalm — maybe not as eloquent as the one above, but just as
meaningful. Maybe that day for you is today!
Dear
Heavenly Father, I now understand that You have the capacity to watch over my
coming and going now and forever more. How overwhelming! What is even more
overwhelming is the reason You do this. You are driven to watch my every move
because You love me and care for me. I don’t fully grasp why You have chosen me,
but I am aware of it and it makes me feel safe. Thank You. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
What difference would it make in your daily life if
you are truly aware of and accepted God’s intense love and involvement in your
life?
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