by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Comfort in God’s Presence

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths.”
Proverbs 5:21 English Standard Version

When someone talks about the “eyes of the Lord” being on us or on our ways, it usually strikes fear into our hearts as though God were some cosmic Santa Claus who wants to punish us for all the bad things that we do, as though every year we can expect coal in our stockings.

Why is that?

The answer resides in the Garden of Eden, in the gulf that exists between a perfect God and sin-riddled human beings. We’re like cockroaches that scatter when the light is turned on. We hide in the dark places so that no one sees what we’re doing.

However, these words from King Solomon are not meant to send us scurrying for the darkness, but to encourage us, to comfort us because God is watching us.

He watches us by his grace. The exposing of sin is not God’s way of killing the cockroach but saving it, of turning it into something that by nature it never could be. His mercy forgives us even when we are at our worst. Yes, God disciples us. He disciplines us because he loves us. He loves you.

It is comforting to know that through Jesus, through his death and his resurrection, God’s eyes are always on our life’s journey. He is not distracted. He does not sleep. He is always watching our path.

The next time that you walk around your neighborhood, tread a mountain path, or stroll the streets of your city, picture God’s eyes on you as you walk. He knows every step, he hears every breath, he knows every thought. You might even take a moment and amble with him in prayer.

His eyes will always be on you for your good!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado