God Knows

In the life of Abraham and Sarah, a fantastic event occurs—God came to dinner. That’s right, God, accompanied by two angels, paid a visit to Abraham. Sarah prepared them a feast, and they ate with Abraham. This is the only place in the Old Testament where God shared a meal with a human. No wonder Abraham is called a friend of God.

In the course of the conversation, God told Abraham, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son” (Gen 18:10).  Sarah overheard the conversation and instantly laughed with unbelief. How could she, now an old woman with a husband who was one hundred, have a baby? The statement seemed utterly absurd. Sarah’s laugh is a laugh of hopelessness. God posed a question for Sarah even though she wasn’t physically present in the conversation and never uttered the thought. Moses writes: Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.” (Gen 18:15).

Sarah was face to face with the omniscience of God. She realized that her unuttered thought was fully known to the Lord. Sarah was brought face to face with the reality that God is omniscient. How powerful is the idea that God knows our innermost thoughts.

The most insane thing we can do is not be truthful with God—the one who can help us, free us, and deliver us, and we believe we can hide our sin from him. We can fool others, but not the omniscient eye of God. Even the most intimate secret or hurtful shame that we are afraid to share—he already knows about it. Knowing that God is omniscient empowers us to believe that nothing is too hard for the Lord. David’s words about God’s omniscience are beautiful:

Psalms 139:1-4

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.