God's Gray Matter/s

psalm 139

Before I started reading the Bible, I had real difficulty imagining a God that payed much attention to me. After all, with, what, almost 6.5 BILLION people on the planet, He's going to have time to consider little old me? I suspected that, if anything, God might have some magical hard-drive of all my activities to consult on the rare occassions He wanted to check up on me.
I suspect my difficulty involved my inability to conceive of any thought power beyond my own abilities. For me, trying to remember the birthdays of my own loved ones was a challenge.

The beginnings of my newfound appreciation for the omniscience of God involved a chess match I was slaughtered at. Not only was I quickly and decisively trounced by my opponent, the guy whipped me while doling out the same punishment to about 40 simultaneous victims. He was a chess whiz, making money by plying his trade at shopping malls across the nation. He would set up 40 chess boards in a large rectangle of tables. Opponents could seat themselves as they pleased, and the wizard would walk around the inside of the tables, playing each game to it's conclusion, one move at a time. "Round and 'round the chessmaster goes, how he keeps winning, nobody knows" would have been a fitting slogan.

Even though getting beaten by this guy was humbling, it did teach me that some beings can handle much more data than I can.

Now I enjoy the game of chess, but I've quickly learned that my talent does not match my enthusiasm. Here was a guy that was so many LEAGUES beyond me, we probably don't even see the chessboard the same way. And yet, this chessmaster was making a living doing glorified parlor tricks. How about the mind of a Bobby Fisher, or Kasparov, or even Deep Blue, the IBM computer that took on the world's best humans? How many separate games could those brains juggle at once? Impressed yet?

How about the One that created the minds (and every other part, for that matter) of the Bobby Fishers of the world? What kind of power has created every genious that has ever lived? Oh, and let's not forget to add that this same God created innumerable other living creatures, plants, rock formations, forests, plains, oceans, planets, stars, galaxies, and everything in them. Impressed yet?

How about the God that makes all these things work together in harmony? The God that devised food chains, hierarchies, and inter-locking systems that could not work independently? The God that uses each of his creations for multiple functions. Stunned yet?
Once I believe that One God created all, it's really no problem seeing that this God has enough mental resources to observe each human being simultaneously. I no longer need to think that God has to "catch up" with my activities when he wants to consider me. He has known my every move before I started making it.

My pastor's most recent sermon expounded on something that makes all this even richer. Not only CAN God keep track of me if He wants to, He DOES WANT TO. God doesn't merely reserve Thursday night's at 7:53 for His "what's Tom up to this week?" time. He thinks about me (and YOU) CONSTANTLY! Thanks to my pastor for this message. My concept of God and his mental power is forever expanded.

The icing on this whole cake? God's thoughts are not of the "Wow, is Tom ever messing up this week" variety. God is not shaking His head in constant sadness, muttering to himself: "Why did I ever save this guy?" He is lovingly planning the next step for my advancement in Christ-like thought.

But hey, don't take my word for it. As much as I trust my pastors, don't even take their word for it. Take the Word's word for it. Go to Psalm 139, and read for yourself:

Psalm 139

O LORD, you have searched me and you know
me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD...........