We can’t see what other people are thinking, but God can
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A retired Royal Army officer I knew had undergone interrogation training, which involved training in torture resistance.
I commented that being shown the instruments of your torture, or what they are going to do to you, must have been terrifying. He replied: “They don’t show you what they’re going to do to you. They blindfold you first. That’s what’s most frightening – facing the unknown.”
And so it is in the rest of life, I thought. We don’t know what lies ahead in the future, and that scares a lot of people; maybe all of us at one time or another. But scarier still is the fact that we have to face people every day and we don’t know what they are thinking!
The little boy who has disobeyed his parents dreads facing mum and dad when he knows they’ve found out what he’s done. The employee who has made a careless mistake at work dreads being summoned into the boss’s office for fear of what the boss might be thinking and thus what the consequences might be. A woman in a small village hesitates to show compassion openly to a well-known, local addict for fear of what the neighbours might think.
Fear of what others are thinking can seriously alter our behaviour. In many cases, it holds people back, stunts their emotional and spiritual growth and keeps people from succeeding in life.
We fear people who withhold information with good reason sometimes. Some people withhold information as a manipulation tactic to control others. We all know folks like that. So did Jesus.
When a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus for prayer and healing, to everyone’s surprise, Jesus said to him: “My child, your sins are forgiven.” The scribes and Pharisees (the “ministers” of that day) were looking on and we’re told that they thought to themselves: “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” But the biblical writer goes on to say “Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, 'why do you question this in your hearts?'" The story goes on to tell us that he healed the man so that people would know that the Son of Man (Jesus) “has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Mark 2:1-12).
I think the scariest part of that story is the statement “Jesus knew IMMEDIATELY what they were thinking.” What the story shows us is that not only was (and is) Jesus himself God, and that God has the ability to heal people, and to forgive sins but also – a fact which we often don’t think about – that God knows what we are thinking! God can read our thoughts. He SEES what you and I are thinking. Always.
The fact that God can do this should, of course, encourage us to clean up our thought life. But it should also encourage us to trust God’s protection. We can’t see what other people are thinking, but God can. So we shouldn’t let what other people might be thinking scare us or hold us back. “But look at what these people have said about me!” you respond. Yes, but do they really have the full facts and can they act on what they’ve said? God sees ALL their thoughts, so don’t you go trying to fill in the blanks with your imagination.
In the Old Testament God promises us “I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them.” (Deuteronomy 32:35). We shouldn’t be trying to take revenge based on what we think others are thinking. If that’s necessary, God will do it. One way or another He’ll get up in their faces, like Jesus did to the scribes and Pharisees, and say “Why are you thinking that?”
Be encouraged. God will deal with the scary unknown element in other peoples’ thinking. He promises you that. He knows and, when necessary, “exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” (Hebrews 4:12). Trust Him. He’ll fight for you. Just wait and see.
