God Is All Knowing; He Probably Is Good At Spelling, Too

Troy Conrad
Troy Conrad

God has always known all things about you. Before you were born He already knew the worst about you, and nothing that happens now can surprise or disillusion Him.

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me." Psalm 139:1

For the longest time, my wife and I were spelling bee champions. We had three little boys so half of our conversations consisted of me saying, "Do you need me to get anything from the store?" and her saying, "Yes. We need some i-c-e c-r-e-a-m."

Of course, at the mere mention of the word "ice cream" we would have started an avalanche of pleading.

"Hey we're getting ice cream!"

"Oh please, Daddy! Can we get ice cream now?"

"Mommy can Daddy take us now to get ice cream!"

Or, it could have started an unwinnable argument.

"Daddy please get chocolate ice cream! It's my favorite!"

"No, Daddy! I like vanilla better!"

"But he got to pick last time! It's not fair!"

"Cookie dough is better!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

And then it would just go downhill from there. By the time it was all said and done, there would probably be a little wrestling involved with at least two boys crying because of the unfairness of it all.

So we spelled.

And what's funny is that we ended up doing it even when the boys weren't around.

"Hey, would you like to go to a r-e-s-t-a-u-r-a-n-t tonight since the grandparents have the boys?"

"I'd love to go to a r-e-s-t-a-u-r-a-n-t!"

And the really funny thing is we didn't realize we were doing it. We'd have whole conversations in which we'd spell at least one word in every sentence. Then, about five minutes into it, we'd both realize we were spelling and look at each other and say, "Why are we spelling things out?"

We'd laugh for a bit and then unconsciously drop back into the habit a few minutes later.

Then one day we were driving down the road after church and said, "Hey what would really be nice is if we went to the new m-o-v-i-e."

When my oldest son (about four at the time) punched the air and said, "Yes!!!!"

My wife and I gave each other concerned looks and before we could say a word my oldest punched the middle son and said, "Hey! Guess what?! We're going to the movie!"

Which then started the pleading. "Daddy can we get popcorn this time?"

"I like extra butter."

"Nu-uh."

"Uh-huh."

Come to find out, the little stinker had been spelling out our words for a while and we didn't know it.

No more open secrets. And no more spelling.

Oh sure, I'd play the old daddy trick of every now and then saying, "Hey, Sweetheart. You know what would be nice if we took the boys to S-u-p-e-r-c-a-l-i-f-r-a-g-i-l-i-s-t-i-c-e-x-p-i-a-l-i-d-o-c-i-o-u-s."

But they figured that one out pretty fast.

When we try to hide things, people (even kiddos) have a tendency to figure it out. Doesn't matter what it may be or how we try to hide it. And it's never a good idea to try to hide things from G-O-D.

Let us pray.

Our gracious God. Sometimes we hide things when we shouldn't. Sometimes we think we can get away with our sins when we know our sins will tend to get away with us. Today we pray that you will forgive us for our tendency to hide things from You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

The Blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ be With You.

PASTOR TROY CONRAD IS MINISTER OF THE FARMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. EMAIL: [email protected].

Religion on 05/18/2016