We live on a small lake and, unfortunately, we have been plagued with people who stroll around the shore and have no business being there. There are people from other neighborhoods who come and try to fish behind our homes and on several occasions, local residents have reported that they wish they felt more secure.
Of course, this is a little unnerving to all of us and because we have a multi-story home, we have installed motion detection floodlights to monitor our property during the nighttime hours. In fact, should anyone approach the area between our home and our neighbor’s home, we can illuminate both yards to see what is going on.
With the increasing reports of delivered packages being stolen and more surveillance being done with video doorbells, our son has convinced us to join the many families who monitor their properties with motion detection cameras. Andrew has been very helpful in getting us into the 21st century and ordering the correct equipment – we started the installation process earlier today.
We got a majority of the work done – not all of it, mind you – but enough to get the idea of what the system was capable of and understanding a little of how it works. We are good to go on the doorbell (it is pretty slick) and cameras to monitor certain parts of the house.
This evening, I went out to water our plants before the requisite neighborhood fireworks displays started and noticed that every minute or two my phone would buzz and send me an alert. I looked down to see that motion had been detected by the front door, in the front yard and on the driveway – it was a little creepy… I was the one creating the alerts, quite unintentionally, to be sure, but nonetheless I haven’t learned enough yet to properly control the times and areas that will be monitored.
I started to think about my moves in and around our own home being monitored this evening. It wasn’t a pleasant thought that every movement would be recorded… in fact, it was downright eerie.
But you know what? Every person is monitored every moment of every day by God. There is nothing that any of us do in any part of our lives that God doesn’t see. That’s because He is omnipresent – meaning everywhere at once. Since we are on the subject, He is also omniscient (all knowing) and omnipotent (all powerful) but today it was the omnipresent piece that kind of bothered me.
There are times that I am sure each of us wishes that God wasn’t watching. I know that there have been times in my life that I would rather have had my actions remain hidden. But we should know that God sees it all – the good and the not-so-good. Today was just a not so gentle reminder that my actions aren’t hidden from the Creator – ever. Someday, when I am in His presence, I really do pray that He will have mercy on me and extend infinite grace for some of the things that I have done and some of the choices that I have made in my life.
With that having been said, tonight’s verse is from the psalms. It highlights the fact that the Lord is always watching – and that should give us comfort. The psalmist tells us, in Psalm 121:5-7, “The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life…”
My encouragement this evening is that we should be glad that God sees everything and protects us – even if it is a little unsettling at first. My prayer is that we may all be drawn to a higher way of life that causes us to act responsibly as wonderful, ambassadors of God – proud of our actions, because they really are being seen! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…