The God Who Sees

GCD Newsletter – Wednesday, 7th June 2023

I’ve been thinking more than usual about those in the military. Last Sunday our church brought up on stage a military family. We prayed for them as they prepare to move yet again. While their membership at our church lasted just a few years, they served with joy and participated as broadly as they could. In short, they blessed us. As they stood on stage and talked, I learned some of the ways our church blessed them.

Last Sunday in the US was also Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember those who fought and died. I confess that our church isn’t the best at recognizing the military around holidays like this. As our lead pastor, I sometimes struggle to know how to do it well, given the misuses clustered around religion, politics, and the military. Because of this, we often don’t do anything. Last weekend, however, I asked the military husband, Todd, to lead our pastoral prayer that day. I’m not sure we’d ever done that in the ten years I’ve had here at our church. But Todd did a wonderful job of balancing prayers for protection and gratitude with wider gospel prayers for the church and the world.

That moment at church on Memorial Day weekend, along with the article we posted from our staff writer, Brianna Lambert, filled me with gratitude. I don’t so much mean for those who serve in the military, although I mean that too. I mean gratitude for the God who sees all and knows all.

This is one of the points that comes out in Brianna’s article. Speaking of how “unknown” most of our lives are, she writes, “I’m not speaking of some sort of loose anonymity we feel within our handful of likes on Instagram or Facebook. This isn’t about the drive for fame and notoriety versus a ‘small’ life. I’m speaking of the parts of our lives that truly are known only to the God of heaven.”

If you missed her article “Known But to God,” I’d encourage you to read it. It’s one of my favorite GCD articles so far this year. “The deepest parts of our suffering are held by the hand of God,” Brianna writes. “We may not be able to explain the currents of darkness that flow in our souls, but our Lord is intimately equated with them. He knows the extent of their reach. He knows everything about us, after all. He discerns our thoughts from afar, and he knows the words before they are on our lips.” 

Indeed he does. He is, as Brianna reminds us, the God who sees.

This Week at GCDiscipleship.com

Known But to God
— Brianna Lambert

“Not even one of a million invisible tears of grief or a million acts of godly piety goes unseen by the “God who sees.”

Not Yet What We Want to Be: Faith Reflections from a Cancer Oven (#11)
— Tim Shorey

Tim Shorey, one of our staff writers, is journaling through his struggle with stage 4 cancer. In this entry he reflects on the promise from God to complete the good work in us that he begins.

Thanks for reading,

Benjamin Vrbicek
Managing Editor for Gospel-Centered Discipleship