This week we received mail reminding us that it has been 50 years since we graduated from college! That is a big WOW for us! It is hard to imagine that it has been that long. And that led me to think about where we had been living when we graduated--50 years ago. Two years before that, we wanted to find an on campus apartment to live in after our marriage. As luck would have it, the apartment that was left available for us was one that hadn't been lived in for quite a while. It wasn't needed or wanted--except by us! One might say we were desperate. But it was what we needed at that time. And God provided it and saved it for us. So we were thankful and happy for our very first apartment. As the summer went on, we were one of the lucky couples. With temperatures well over 100 degrees even at night, we became very thankful that it was a basement apartment with naturally cooler temperatures. Yay for us! The apartment also had 2 windows with deep window wells surrounding them. Those wells were frequently used by a neighborhood kitty!
Coming to college from a farm family, I had so much missed my "pets". So when a kitty started coming by and looking in at us, I couldn't resist making friends with him. A bowl of milk and bread soon won his friendship. And then we started inviting him into our cooler place to hang out with us. After that, he was happy staying with us full time and we were happy to have him! He was a black and white tuxedo kitty that we called Mr. Sir. Fifty years ago after our graduation, we were called to move to Michigan to attend the Seminary and that was when Mr. Sir became a well traveled kitty. From there we moved briefly to Iowa, then to New Mexico. Mr. Sir was the beginning of our having many different kitties as part of our family. Our next kitty, too, was well-traveled and traveled with us on many moves.
We love our kitties! And they seem to love us back. Even though it is a well known fact that cats do what makes cats happy and keeps them well fed. Cat owners are the servants and they are the masters. I don't think that is entirely true though. We have seen them crave the love and attention that we freely offer. Right now we have two kitties that live with us--Marco and Miss Kitty. Miss Kitty definitely shows us every day that she needs our love even though often she might have an ulterior motive--needing food, etc. But sometimes there doesn't seem to be an immediate need. She just needs our attention. Miss Kitty just needs love! In my arms or on top of me when I lay down to rest my "old painful knees". She comes and lays on me as I am flat on the bed. And creeps closer and closer until her nose is almost touching mine--purring loudly and constantly. When I get up, she continues to lay in her favorite spot on the bed. She wants to be near us, even in sleep.
She often appears to be sound asleep! God has given cats abilities that people aren't able to do! I, for one, could use a couple of those abilities! Sometimes when she seems very soundly asleep, she will suddenly wake, sit up, and stare at the door! I can see no reason for her to suddenly wake! But within several seconds, the kitchen door will open and my bother will come in with the mail, or come for some other reason. Whatever the reason, she is alert! Somehow she knows when it is him approaching the house and when I have no idea that he is going to come in! She does not wake for other people. We have realized that is just for this particular brother. Apparently he gives the best back rubs ever! Way, way better than the ones we give her. She wakes and runs to where he is and tells him in kitty language that she needs another one of his coveted back rubs and scratches. It is just so amazing to me that she knows way ahead of time that he is coming. Knows that he offers what no one else can give. Knows that she can depend on his giving and her receiving. Like God, she can hear long before we physically announce our needs.
That reminds me of the love that God freely offers us. And reminds me of how He knows our needs long before we even know what we are going to need. God too hears us long before we announce our needs and we can depend on Him to come in and answer our needs. We can trust Him to come into our lives to satisfy those needs, just has Miss Kitty trusted that she can receive satisfaction when she needs it. God never sleeps, He is awake to answer all our needs. He knows before I do what I am going to need and provides what I need, though often not what I want! God knows! And comes to help!
Recently we received another piece of mail that we did not want to open. Curiosity drove us to open it. The return address was our clue that we were not going to enjoy the contents. Sure enough, we did not receive a Merry Christmas greeting inside the envelope. It was a Pay up note! We had been caught going too fast by an unseen camera. There are many hidden camera eyes in the area watching us, you and me, even when I'm not aware of the watching eyes. This piece of mail was not the first time we received it! Three of them have been in our mail. Now we are getting frustrated for we are not law breakers. We try to be obedient. We are aware that there are watching recording eyes. But it is very easy to momentarily forget! And then our actions get recorded. Then it is too late and our sin has been recorded and we need punishment. That dreaded fine that is supposed to help us do better next time. It wastes our money! Money that we need for other things!
We sometimes forget that even though no one is nearby and that we don't see anyone watching, God has eyes everywhere. He is omniscient! He sees everything, He hears everything, He knows everything.
Here is Google's explanation: There are three “omni” attributes of God that characterize him as all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present. Each of these involves the other two, and each provides us a perspective on the all-embracing lordship of the true God. Omnipotence means that God is in total control of Himself and His creation. Omniscience means that He is the ultimate of truth, that His ideas are always true. Omnipresence means that since God’s power and knowledge extend to all parts of His creation, He Himself is present everywhere. Together they define God’s lordship, and they yield a rich understanding of creation, providence, and salvation.
The prefix omni means “all,” so the three divine attributes can be paraphrased by saying that God is “all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present.” The Bible says that God does whatever he is pleased to do (Ps. 115:3; cf. Is. 55:11 and Jer. 32:17). Nothing is too hard for him (Gen. 18:14). His word is never void of power, so when he speaks, everything in creation obeys him (Is. 55:11).
Often I think that God “can do anything.” But there are things that God cannot do. He cannot lie or perform immoral actions. Since God is perfectly holy and good, He cannot do anything evil. I think the most helpful definition of God’s omnipotence is this one: that He has complete and total control over everything. This includes the smallest details of the natural world, like the falling of a sparrow or the number of hairs that grow on my head. That could be hard since the number changes daily! Even chance and random events, are really God at work, in the small things, but also in the big things. He decides what king or president is to rule, and when, and where. God rules not only the important events of human history but also the lives of individual people. So his power is universal: it controls everything in the universe. God’s knowledge or omniscience is a precious blessing to His people. God’s knowledge of us seeks for us wherever we may go: to heaven, to death, to far distances, to dark places, to every day of our life on earth. Omnipresence says that God is “present” and says that he is here with us, really here, not absent.
God comes to his faithful people and declares “I will be with you.” This means that God is here, wherever we are, but also that God is on our side—my side. He is with me, not to destroy me, but to forgive and to save me from sin.
The omni-attributes are ways of speaking of God’s Lordship. “Lord” is the word that Scripture uses over 7,000 times to name God. God has “control, authority, and presence.” This triad is equal to the three omni-attributes. God’s omnipotence is his control over all things. His omniscience is his authority to declare what is true. And his omnipresence is his real existence in every time and place. So when we talk about God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, we are talking about his lordship.
God knows! He has power! He sees! He is with me. I'm so glad!
