Inside and Out

Imagine this...quick short footsteps running down the hall toward a mother sitting in a chair with her back turned to the child. The footsteps slow and then stop in confusion when Mom can not be found. Then the mother calls out "Lisa, I'm right here." The child once again races forward, and dives into Mom's lap for the comfort, peace, and security she knows she will always find there. Meanwhile, Mom never once turned around or looked up as the footsteps approached the room where she was seated. She knew which child was looking for her, knew the sound of their approaching footsteps.

This memory kept me thinking, what about God? Does he distinguish between all his children's different ways of approaching him? Can he instantly tell that it is me coming to talk, just the way moms know the exact cry, laugh, voice, and footsteps of their children?  Does God know the sound of my laugh, heart breaking into pieces, my footsteps to his door? I think so.

After all, He reminds us over and over in his word how loved and valuable we are to Him. In Matthew 10:29-30 it says, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; your are worth more than many sparrows." 

It is so incredible to know that my God knows me inside and out and yet He loves me! He hears me and knows just what I need as I approach his throne, and he welcomes me with his loving arms...

Psalm 139:1-18

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.