CHARLO, New Brunswick, February 21, 2024 – As we know, God is watching us all the time. And he’s not only watching us, he’s listening to us and reading our thoughts. He knows everything about us, inside and out, down to the smallest detail and nanoparticle. In fact, he knows everything about us even before we know, because he knows our past and our future as well as our present. That’s his privilege for being God.

But even as he’s watching us, listening to us, and reading our thoughts, God’s made it so that we don’t think about his omnipresence and omniscience all the time. He’s made it impossible (or better said, he’s supernaturally suspended our ability) to think about his omnipresence and omniscience all the time because if we did think about those things all the time, we’d alter our behavior, the way that people act differently when they know someone is looking at them or a camera or microphone is pointed their way: They act like they’re on stage playing to an audience. God doesn’t want us acting differently just to please him. He wants to see us and hear us and read our thoughts as we are, not as we think he wants us to be.

I also think we’d go a little crazy if we couldn’t take a break from knowing that someone was always watching us. On the occasions when it does come to mind (like now), I don’t mind that God is always here with me because I love God and I trust him and I know that he loves me. I know that his omnipresence and omniscience are for my benefit. I know that everything he does is for my benefit. Still, if I were constantly aware, without a break, that I had no privacy at all – even in my thoughts – it might make me a bit coo-coo.  That, I think, would be the natural human response (to go a bit coo-coo), which is why God has suspended our ability to be constantly aware of his constant presence.

I was thinking about this today when I remembered that not even Jesus or the holy angels know the date for the end of the world. Jesus said that no-one knows the end date except God. Then I thought about God’s reasoning for preventing us from knowing the end date and I saw a parallel between not knowing the end date and not always being aware of God’s presence. I think both of these “absences” are supernaturally imposed on us to prevent us from acting differently from who we are.

And to prevent us from going coo-coo.

Scripture tells of a time when “hearts will fail” for fear of what’s coming on the world. Imagine what will happen when everyone knows the end is no longer nigh but now! Unbelievers will lose whatever’s left of their sanity and hell will empty out, which means that every fallen entity in existence will be roaming the earth looking for a host and torturing people. Jesus describes this time as the worst in history. It’s safe to say that people will radically change their behavior under these horrendous conditions. Even believers (if any are still here) won’t act like themselves but will measure everything they do and say in relation to the ticking clock.

In movies about the end of days, there are always shots of people streaming into churches and packing pews, motivated not by their love of God but by their fear of what’s coming on them. I always think, when I see them, it’s too late, it’s too late, you left it too late. The time to turn back to God is long gone. I guess it’s prudent to point out that when the last day does come, there won’t be any church buildings to stream into, anyway. Those will also be long gone.

What I’m saying here is that we don’t know certain things – or certain things are not always on our mind – because God supernaturally made us not to know them, at least not yet. Whoever’s left on Earth on that last day, however, will very much know it’s the last day; God won’t hold that knowledge back from anyone anymore (which explains the scripture about failing hearts). I pray to God that I won’t be here when that time comes, and you should pray that for yourself, too. As bad as things are now, it’s nothing compared to the day when God pours out his final wrath and the devil has free reign. Earth will literally become hell, with every fallen being roaming with no restraints and Satan lording over them all.

I’m happy to know what God lets me know and to leave the rest be. I had to learn to turn off certain types of curiosity as a born-again believer. God made us to be curious, but not about everything. Look what happened to Adam and Eve. Look what happened to Solomon.

Some things are best left unknown.

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And now, dear reader, I leave you with a challenge: See how long you can be conscious of God’s presence before you forget about it. You won’t be aware that you’ve forgotten until you remember again. Me, I usually don’t last more than a minute before God draws my attention elsewhere with a shiny bauble of a thought. I know he does this for my benefit, and it makes me laugh. It makes him laugh, too.

But you – you see how long you can think about God’s presence before you forget he’s there. See if you can beat my one-minute record (lol).

And then try not to laugh when you remember again about God’s presence and realize how quickly you forgot about it.

That’s supernatural forgetfulness.

It comes from God, and it’s for our benefit.