Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living

Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done.  Hebrews 4:13

To what degree is it legitimate for airport security officials to embarrass passengers, provided their discomfort gives everyone the assurance that the flight you are on is a safe one?  That’s one of the very issues that confront travelers today.

You may have seen the article with the caption, “Before takeoff, scanner takes it all off.” The caption underneath the headline read, “New imaging machine peers through clothes to search for dangerous items. Critics say it’s a virtual strip search.”

Here’s the low-down. Sophisticated electronic technology known as millimeter wave imaging takes pictures of a person which are white and dark gray standing before a camera. Though they are somewhat fuzzy, the pictures are detailed enough to reveal not only a weapon but also your bulges—say love-handles or fat around the middle, and the outline of your physique. The result is a kind of 3-D image that shows how the person looks without clothing. Some think it is fine; others say it is an invasion of their privacy. Fully clothed but naked! Do you know that’s exactly how God sees us?

That very thought, though, brings comfort to some and strikes fear in the hearts of others. Nothing is hidden from His eyes.  “Nothing?” you may ask incredulously. That’s what the Bible tells us. Here is how it’s put.  “Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done” says Hebrews 4:13. This fact creates two immediate responses.

Some are terrified.  “You mean God knows everything about me?” their hearts cry out in shame.  Why should we be surprised that God knows the contents of your e-mail, the text messages that you thought were completely confidential, and your whereabouts when you told your wife you were going one place but went somewhere else—somewhere you would just as soon she didn’t know about.

Quite often we forget that He who spoke the word and created our first fathers, Adam and Eve, doesn’t grow older century by century, and his memory doesn’t wear out with use, nor does He have so many programs running on His computer (if He has one) that He has trouble keeping tabs on those of us who dwell on this terrestrial village known as Planet Earth. He doesn’t need a “black book” to keep track of what we do. He knows. He’s God, and that fact separates Him from the way we look at things.

Others rejoice when they understand, realizing God knows the times you try so hard and nobody notices, the times you work your fingers to the bone and nobody says, “Thank you!”  When you are misunderstood by others, it means God knows your heart—your true feelings—and He understands. That’s comforting and encouraging. They also rejoice because they stand forgiven in God’s sight.

They remember the fact that when God forgives us, He wipes the slate clean, as though we had never sinned. Isaiah 43:25 puts it like this: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25).

Being clothed with the righteousness of Christ by being His child gives you all the protection you’ll ever need. Knowing that nothing is hidden from the Lord may strike fear into the hearts of some, but it brings joy to the hearts of those who are right with God. Think about it.

Resource reading: Job 38:1-15