Knock, Knock...Who's There?

There is no telling why my cousin and I happened to be in the closet of the downstairs bedroom in my grandparents’ house that day. I mean, the other bedroom downstairs had TWO closets, and they were much bigger, and they had lights. We played house in them all the time. For some reason, though, this one day we were in the other room, in the much smaller closet, with no lights.

My cousin chose this time to divulge to me a secret, which I will now reveal here after more than twenty years. My cousin thought her mother knew everything. I know that some of you are thinking, “Oh, how cute, the kid thinks her mom is the end-all of knowledge.” That’s not exactly it. My cousin didn’t think this in the traditional, book sense. She thought her mom was, for lack of a better word, psychic. She always knew what my cousin was doing, as if she had eyes in the back of her head…only better (or worse, if you’re a kid.) For super-eerie effect, my cousin then added, “She could know we’re in here right now and be standing outside, listening.”

About that time, she reached for the doorknob. It turned, but the door didn’t open. It was as if something – or someONE – was blocking the door! And it was HER – my aunt, with the all-seeing eye! Terror raced through my heart as I wondered what else we’d been busted for doing just because she knew everything that we did. (Now looking back, it seems extremely hokey, like I was set-up.)

Every time I think about this story, I remember the three Omnis of God: Omnipotence, Omnipresence, and Omniscience. Omnipotence indicates that God is all-powerful. With God’s help, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13, NKJV). Omnipresence indicates that God is everywhere. There is nowhere I can be that God is unaware of what I am thinking and doing, and this correlates with His omniscience. He knows. He knows everything – my joys, my sorrows, my happiness, my pain, my trials and temptations (Hebrews 2:18).

Sometimes I think we get this picture of God as being out to get us. My aunt wasn’t out to get us. (I don’t think.) It’s just part of the job of being a mother and an aunt. It’s done out of love, to keep us out of trouble. God is the same way. He isn’t out to get us. He cares. What a beautiful thing to trust a God who can be, and is, there for us in every way! Are you running to God or away from Him?