Slideshow image

We have been having some issues with our wifi at home since the pandemic started. Devices take longer to connect to wifi. Or some don’t connect at all or continually jump on and off. We likely have to call our service provider. However, I hesitate in making that call because I know I will have to jump through multiple hoops before I can talk to someone helpful. I might need an account number or password. I don’t know how long I will have to wait. On top of that, it might require a visit from a technician which might be weeks away. So I have not yet blocked out time to address this among the multitude of issues raised by our current situation.

Sometimes, we might feel God is like that. We think our issue is too minor for us to talk with Him directly. Or we conclude He might get to us once major world issues get solved. Or we believe that we’re just not important enough so He will likely dispatch some junior angel to deal with our “little” issue.

But Psalm 56:8 dispels that kind of thinking. Here are two translations of the same verse.

English Standard – “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”

New International – “Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll – are they not in your record?”

The first translation implies that God counts how many times we toss and turn in bed. He also collects our tears in a bottle and records them in some sort of book. The second translation asks God to list tears on his scroll and keep them in his record.

This reveals an incredibly attentive God. We don’t know how many times we toss and turn on restless nights. We likely don’t keep track of our tears. But David, who wrote this Psalm, had this conviction that God knew all David’s struggles intimately.

This is one of endless examples showing us the difference between God and humans. We tend to project what we know about humanity onto God. We conclude He must be like us. So when we hear about God’s wrath, we think of human wrath. Many times, human wrath is unreasonable and delivered in a rage. So we project that image onto God. But’s God’s wrath is a reasonable and controlled response to those who continually reject His provision for their rebellion and law breaking.

In a similar way, we know we can only be in one place at a time. We can only attend to a few human relationships in our lives. So we project our limitation onto God and conclude He couldn’t possibly know about our lives. But God is eternal and present everywhere. God is spirit and not limited by flesh, weakness or tiredness.

So He is able, willing and present to attend and record our tears of weeping and tears of joy. So we can pray with David, Psalm 56:10-11 – “In God whose word I praise, in the Lord whose word I praise, In God I trust; I shall not be afraid.”

Comments for this post are now off.