Stuff I Don’t Know About

 

I have many memories of my Dad. Most of them are good ones. He was one of those men who didn’t take a real active role in our parenting. I am one of six so this left a big responsibility on our Mother.

I can remember crying over something that he thought was too inconsequential to be crying about and so he would look at me and say, “You keep this up and I’ll give you something to cry about.” I was sure he meant it. He was also playful at times. If you were upset about a hurt finger he would offer to go get a knife and cut off your leg – promising you would forget all about your finger!

One of his regular playful attempts at discipline was to give one of us a little slap on the rear as we walked by him and say, “That’s for the stuff I don’t know about.” It was always a little eerie to think that he knew there were things I needed to be punished for that he didn’t know about! It made one wonder how much he did know!

I just finished a weekend that felt busy. Except for church on Sunday morning and some reading I did last night to prepare to write a lecture today I didn’t “feel” like I had spent much time with the Lord. I hadn’t had a deliberate time of devotion with Him since Thursday morning. If felt like a long time.

As I sat this morning trying to journal some thoughts about what I should be praising God for I caught myself thinking, “I should Praise You, Lord, for the stuff I don’t know about.” It occurred to me that just as my earthly father did not know all about how I had sinned, so my heavenly Father has done plenty to protect and provide for me that I have not seen. I don’t know what those things are but I know that He has been at work in the background – in the heavenly realm.

Paul clearly tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. In Romans 8:38-39 he says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There is a spiritual war going on all the time. At first it’s for our souls. Satan would love to keep people from coming to faith in the work of Jesus Christ so they are lost in hell for eternity. If God delivers us from him and saves us, then we are at risk of being tempted by Satan so that we are ineffective and no threat to the work of evil by keeping us from knowing God and telling others about Him.

But these verses would also indicate that there must be some threat from things present and things of creation. They are not capable of separating us from God in Christ but apparently they will tempt us to be drawn to earthly pleasures and “stuff” so that God is not the most important person in our lives. When we aren’t separated by these things it is the work of the Almighty Protector and Keeper.

As Christians, God protects us. He prompts us to remember Him. He convicts us of sin so that we will stop and think about what we have chosen over Him. He gives us that little slap and says, “This is for the stuff I’m seeing that you’re not!” Then, He provides that hedge of protection so we have opportunity to respond to Him.

God’s work in us and for us isn’t always the most obvious of His works. He’s quiet and gentle – so much so that sometimes we effectively ignore Him. In His grace, He gives us the little slap. That’s the stuff I want to praise Him for today. He does not leave me in my sin. He protects me from evil – just as I have asked Him to do many times. He sees what I don’t see coming and He sends me in another direction. He hears what I don’t and protects me from someone else’s tongue. He knows what will come out of my mouth and protects another from my tongue.

He is the God of grace and mercy. What stuff do we need to be praising him for today?