Nothing Is Private

“And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard [it].” (Nu 12:2 AV)

I wonder if anyone has done a study to determine just how cognizant people are to the surveillance that surrounds and tracks them every day.  Even in our own church, there is barely any place where one can go without being watched with a camera.  Other than the restrooms, there isn’t much privacy.  We do this for everyone’s safety.  Threats loom everywhere.  It is needful to keep a watchful eye.  At first, our people were very well aware of them.  They even became a bit self-conscience.  Over time, however, we have forgotten their presence.  It is a wonder the events of human behavior one witnesses when no one seems to remember the cameras see everything.  Familiarity with the ‘all-seeing’ surveillance state has made us oblivious to it.  We may have had our guard up initially, but over time, we forget and normal behavior resumes.  The same is true with our all-seeing God.  He sees and hears everything.  There is no such thing as privacy with the LORD.  What is even more concerning is He can see what man cannot.  He can see the heart.  He can see our thoughts.  There isn’t anything He does not know, no matter how private we think we are being.

Aaron and Mariam, Moses’ brother and sister, were having a private discussion regarding Moses’ choice of a wife.  Moses married an Ethiopian woman.  The bible is unclear whether Moses made a mistake here, or if the LORD permitted it.  We simply do not know.  The reason we do not know is Aaron and Mariam’s reaction to it was far more important than the choice itself.  They were so disturbed by Moses’ choice to marry a non-Hebrew that they believed they could do a better job in leading Israel than Moses could.  After all, if they had a problem with his choice of a wife, surely there would be others in the camp that would agree.  They way they saw it, his choice of a wife damaged credibility needed to lead the people.  This discussion was in private.  It had yet to get into the camp.  The insurrection had yet to begin.  This conversation was in the infant stages of an upheaval.  No one else was involved.  What is concerning is that the LORD heard it!  He heard it and did something about it.  When these two people had a private conversation, they never considered that God would hear their words and understand their thoughts.  Out of sight, out of mind.  As long as the tent flaps were closed and they whispered their thoughts, who would hear?  God would!

It is our human frailty to limit God and compartmentalize Him.  We live temporally.  We live according to our five senses.  If not seen, heard, touched, etc, they it or He must not be a part of the moment.  We fail to live each second of each moment with the understanding that God is present.  He is not coming or going.  He is not here more in the moment than at other moments.  He sees all, hears all, and knows all.  Don’t you hate it when a conversation you thought was private turned out not to be so?  You get caught in something you said.  It doesn’t matter if you were working out your thoughts without coming to a definitive conclusion.  You said it and someone else heard it.  Now, you have to backtrack.  The LORD knows what we say.  He knows what we mean.  It would have been better for Aaron and Mariam to take their concerns directly to the LORD, independent of one another, to gather wisdom, humility, and direction.  It is always better to work out our opinions with the LORD first, lest He hit the record button as we work them out with people.  Beware, God hears it all!  What we think is private is never private.  Not when it comes to the LORD.