Tag: omniscient

Posted in memories

I don’t remember

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

On my big dog walk the other day, the idea of God’s omniscience popped into my mind. (Don’t ask me why. It’s not like I’m omniscient!) He has total knowledge of everything. He knows the past, present, and future, every detail about me and his entire creation. In other words, “God knows everything” (1 John 3:20).

  • In some ways, we used to know more than we do now. For instance, I used to know phone numbers. Since they are stored by name in my phone, those digits don’t have a place in my mind. At church recently, the youth director wanted the students to check in digitally. Unfortunately, the parents used their own phone number to register the family. None of the youth could recall that number.
  • I used to be pretty good with directions. Now I need a talking GPS to tell me where to go. I like the fact that my maps app gets me to my destination on the shorted possible route. But if the internet is down, I have no idea where I’m going.
  • I used to know geography. Stamp collecting helped me identify countries all over the world. Many have changed their names, and that knowledge is slipping.
  • I used to be very good at remembering birthdays. Then my family grew exponentially, and I had to make a chart.
  • I had locker combinations memorized in high school. Now, most schools don’t even let the students use lockers.

I read that our minds weren’t designed to remember everything. Our brain sorts out what is important, storing away what it thinks you’ll need to recall. I like to use mnemonic tools and tricks to make my brain retain more data than it normally would. Plus, I write out lists for myself.

God knows everything. The number of hairs on your head. What you’re going to say. How long you’ll live. Everything.

Except a believer’s sin. God says, “I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12). The eternal God isn’t starting to forget things. It’s just that the blood of Christ covers up our sin. I might have a hard time forgetting and forgiving myself, but God’s never going to bring it up again.

Posted in Devotions

I don’t want to be “omni-” anything!

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

What happens when we attain to omniscience (knowing everything), omnipresence (being everywhere) and omnipotence (able to do anything)? In other words, what happens to us when we approach these qualities that only God possesses?

Let’s start with omniscience. OK, so I don’t know everything. But I know an awful lot about what everyone is doing, what they are thinking, where they are going and their relationships. It’s all right there on social media. I have easy access to everything going on around the world. It’s right there in my constantly updated news feeds. I know all about the incredible wealth of some and the miserable poverty of others.

It’s overwhelming. All that information frightens me, worries me and sometimes disgusts me. It’s too much. I don’t know how to process it all. In those rare spans of time when I don’t have access to news and everyone’s opinions, my mind and my soul begin to relax. I wasn’t designed for that overload. Maybe we should leave omniscience to God.

How about omnipresence? Recent virus quarantining has prompted lots of virtual experiences, digitally taking us places that were beyond our reach before. We can “visit” museums and parks, oceans and outer space, concert halls and theater stages, homes for sale, used car lots and the kitchens of famous chefs. I can go to church just about anywhere I want to. With a VR headset, I can take virtual bike rides across the country and ride the world’s tallest roller coasters. I can go anywhere!

But it’s not real. Well, it’s real, but I’m not really there. I’m here, in one place at a certain time. It’s just an illusion, and it can distract me from being where I am and who I’m with. Omnipresence is a bit much for me. It’s better suited for the divine.

Now I know I’m not omnipotent. There are definitely limits to my ability to do things. But the plethora of do-it-yourself videos often has me thinking, “I could do that.” Whether it’s preparing food, making repairs, decorating a room, writing a book or whatever, it always looks so easy. It always looks like it’s within my ability. At least that’s what they say. “You can do it!”

The thing is, I don’t necessarily need to do all that. I really don’t need more to do. In fact, it’s often better to let someone else do many of these things. My best efforts never seem to turn out as good as that in the video.

Didn’t the original temptation go something like this: “You’ll be like God”? If I’ve learned anything, it’s better to just be me and let Him be God.