God Sees – Sunday School Outline
When I was a kid my grandmother had this huge closet she used to store clothes, quilts, chairs, and other random items in.
There was this little bench she had in there that I loved.
So, I would sneak in there with a book or some drawing supplies and hide for hours.
One of the main reasons I would do it was to get away from the other kids and have some quiet, alone time.
I would always wait until I thought no one was looking before I snuck in there so that the other kids wouldn’t see where I was going.
It was great! Just me and my thoughts. No noise, no interruptions!
It was probably 2 months of sneaking before any of them ever found out where I was.
Once they knew, of course, it was no longer a secret so they would come and bother me.
But until they found my hiding spot, I was free to do what I wanted and get away with it.
I wonder how many times I’ve had that mentality, thinking I can do something without God seeing or knowing?
How many times did I do something thinking it will be okay, it’s no big deal?
How many times did I not even consider whether God would see or not?
-Just going through life assuming it was okay to do things because if I’m not talking to God or paying Him attention, He probably doesn’t notice me?
Turn to Proverbs 5:21 – For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.(NIV)
This is a great reminder that the Lord can see everything we do
He also looks at our paths
Meaning He pays attention to how we are walking and what we are doing.
He notices whether we are on the right path.
He notices the details of what we’re doing on our path, whether it’s good or bad.
Another verse says it this way –
Psalm 11:4 The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on His heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; His eyes examine them.
God is in Heaven looking down at everyone on earth and examining them.
I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own lives we forget just how aware of our lives God really is.
We get so busy working, cooking dinner, doing laundry, chasing kids, taking care of family members, we get distracted and forget that our number one priority should be walking in a way that honors God and not taking shortcuts – no matter what.
Another thing we forget that makes a big difference, and maybe even contributes to our forgetting, is found in 1 John 1 –
1 John 1:8-10 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us.
Like it or not, we sin every day.
Not most days
Not some days.
Every. Single. Day.
The question is, are we too busy to notice?
Do we get busy in our day to day and forget that God watches us, that God checks our paths?
Do we brush it off as no big deal just because it’s not a so-called “big” sin?
It’s something to think about.
Another time we think God can’t or doesn’t see us is when we are trying to hide from Him.
Maybe we know we’ve done wrong and we are struggling to repent.
Maybe our pride is holding us back and stopping us from humbling ourselves before Him like we should.
Maybe we are hurt or disappointed, either with Him or with someone in our lives.
(that someone might even be ourselves).
We retreat and pull back, emotionally and/or spiritually isolating ourselves.
We are trying to hide from the world and the pain and we try to protect ourselves, but in the process we try to hide and protect ourselves from God, maybe without even realizing we’re doing it.
Here’s the thing, we cannot hide from God.
Even if we could, when things are painful or hurtful we should be running TO God, not FROM Him.
We don’t need protected FROM Him, we need protected BY Him.
When life is weighing us down and we are having a hard time with it, God sees us.
He reaches out to us and He comforts us.
One of my favorite passages is 2 Corinthians 1:3 –
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
He is the God of all comfort, not just some.
No matter what it is, He can comfort us in all our troubles.
Truth is, God wants to comfort you.
Not only does He comfort us in our afflictions, He uses our experiences to comfort others.
So don’t think your struggles are pointless; they aren’t.
They can equip you to minister to certain situations others can’t.
Notice, too that our comfort abounds through Christ.
Abounds means a bountiful, generous amount.
It can’t do that if you are holding yourself back from Him.
So, run to Him, not from Him.
Isaiah 49:13 tells us we can rejoice that God sees and comforts us in our afflictions. We can also take comfort in knowing He’ll take care of us
It says –
Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
Because He comforts us we can rejoice!
Psalm 31:7 tells us, I will be glad and rejoice in Your love, for You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. (NIV)
He loves, us, He sees us, He understands, He cares!
That is definitely something to rejoice in!
Psalm 33:13-15 says, From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; 14 from His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth— 15 He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
He considers everything we do, not just Sunday morning, not just when we’re focused on Him.
He considers everything we do no matter where we are or who we’re with.
It’s not just His children He’s watching.
He’s looking at all of mankind.
Proverbs 15:3 – The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. (NIV)
This is comforting to me because sometimes I see bad things going on out in the world and I wonder if God knows.
I sometimes wonder if He sees what is going on with me; the injustices I sometimes face.
He does. He sees it all.
And I’m sure it breaks His heart, too.
So, when I see bad things going on, I can take comfort in the fact that He does see it and He does care.
This makes it easier to pray about and to deal with.
Remember what Proverbs 5:21 says:
For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.(NIV)
All our paths are in full view of Him.
Good and bad.
No matter who we are.
So, let me ask you.
Are you living your life like you know God sees you?
Do you realize He sees all you do?
Do you realize He can and will comfort you in all your afflictions?
Do you go to Him, ignore Him, or retreat from Him when you are hurting?
If your answer to any of these questions is no, then I encourage you to go to the God of the Universe who sees us and examines us and ask Him to help you to properly live a life before Him that is more open and honest with Him, openly submitting the hidden parts of yourself to the God who loves and comforts us with all comfort.
Homework assignment –
Ponder these questions and take a good, long, hard look at your life.
Be completely honest with yourself about whether you are living in the knowledge of God’s presence or whether you think you are hiding from Him.
If you aren’t living openly for and before Him, or if there is a part of your life you are trying to keep for yourself or hide from Him, be brave and offer it to Him.
He already sees it, He’s just waiting for you to trust Him with it.
Memory verse-
Jeremiah 23:24 Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. (NIV)
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