Perceived Privacy Proves Poor Piety

“Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.” (Eze 8:12 AV)

God is never absent.  Not in the sense that He is not present in any way, shape, or form.  God is omnipresent.  He is everywhere at all times.  However, there may be times we perceive His is not present.  This is our perception and not reality.  God sees all things.  He is aware of all things.  He may choose to be silent.  He may choose to not interact with people or things.  But that does not mean He is not present.  When people believe they perceive the absence of God, their true character is revealed.  In the above verse, the elders of Judah are in the temple worshiping false gods in the basement of the building.  They have their own chamber thinking the walls and ground around them shield them from the sight of God.  How foolish.  When we think we perceive the absence of God, then our true selves show up!

Every parent has done this from time to time.  They place their children in a room to play, giving them the security of privacy.  After a bit, the parent sneaks to just outside the room to hear what is going on inside.  Often, we are pleased with what we hear.  However, there are many times when we are not pleased.  They begin to misbehave.  They treat one another with cruelty.  Or, they do things they know Mom or Dad would not approve of.  Now that my sons are adults, we are finding out all sorts of things they did while unsupervised.  On one such occasion, we came home to find Lincoln logs in all sorts of strange places and a few dents in the dry wall throughout the house.  It appeared as though a Lincoln Log war with the babysitter erupted in our absence!

God is always watching.  But, child of God, if you perceive that God is afar off, maybe what He is doing is giving you a lesson in the true you!  How are you doing?  Do the “absent eyes” of God mean you fail to live according to His word!  He truly is not absent!  He is nearer than You think!