Does God Really Notice Me?

“I look up to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD. He is the Maker of heaven and earth. He won’t let your foot slip. He who watches over you won’t get tired…. The LORD will watch over your life no matter where you go, both now and forever.” (Psalm 121:1-3, 8, NIRV)

My daughters are teenagers now. But some memories from their little years are so vivid I can still smell the chalk dust.

It was an early summer morning at the gymnastics center. I sat on bleachers, eyes shooting from one end of the room to the other — first to the balance beam, where my six-year-old spread her arms like wings, then to the tumbling mat, where my three-year-old rolled somersaults and sprung to her feet with happy hands in the air.

When the summer schedule came out that spring and both girls landed in class at the same time, I thought, great! Beginner Girls for one, Tumble Stars for the other… I’ll get to sit back and watch. Perfect.

Except I didn’t have enough eyeballs in my head.

One daughter dismounted the parallel bars while the other leapt into the foam pit. I spent the hour mad-dashing my attention from favorite child to favorite child, trying to catch each girl’s highlights and applaud their courage. But, inevitably, I missed something. And then I heard about it on the drive home.

“Mom, you watched her more than me!” My six-year-old complained from the back seat.

“I did not, I watched you both equally.”

“But you didn’t see my cartwheel! It was the best one I’ve ever done in my whole life!”

“Lovey,” I glanced at my firstborn in the rear-view mirror, “I watch you practice cartwheels every day, and I saw plenty of excellent cartwheels this morning in class. I’m very proud of you.”

“But I looked at you after my best cartwheel and you were watching the tumblers.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” I sighed. “I can’t see everything. I love you and I want to watch you. I also love your sister and I need to watch her, too. I was cheering for both of you. I promise.”

Ugh. Only two kids to my name, and I struggled to keep track. I wondered — how does God do it? There are millions of us, His beloved children, and we’re not conveniently confined to one gymnasium. We’re everywhere.

Does He really notice me?

Yes. Even if it doesn’t feel like it.

I still have days when stress bubbles over and I doubt whether God cares. Surely my whining isn’t nearly as important as a universe full of “real” problems, right?

Yet God does care. He does hear. Big or small, He wants us to share every trouble with him. We shouldn’t settle for grumbling only to our husbands or, God forgive us, stepping over heaven’s timing by trying to fix the issue ourselves. We all know how well that usually turns out, anyway.

When we want God’s attention, all we need to do is look up to the hills, where our help comes from.

So I exhale and pray. I speak to God while I chop broccoli and scrub pots. I toss my worries on the Lord. And then a strange peace settles over me, and I know — He heard.

I can’t fathom it, can you? So many people vying for God’s concern, and somehow He is available to each of us, all the time. His eyes are everywhere.

I wish I could say the same for mine. After that gymnastics class all those years ago, I opened the door to the backyard and nudged my daughters out.

“Show me your best moves, girls. Cartwheels, somersaults, handstands — I want to see all of it.”

“Yay!” They squealed and ran for the grass.

“Just one condition,” I held up my hand. “Please — take turns. Mom only has two eyeballs. And I don’t want to miss a thing.”

Reflect

• Read Proverbs 15:3. God sees everyone, at every moment. He is omnipresent. What does this tell you about how personally God knows you?

Apply

• In everything you do today, invite God to be a part of it. Remember He is not only watching but actively involved in your life and offering grace for every moment.