Joe Louis was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 until he retired in 1949. In 1946 Louis prepared to defend his title against a skilled fighter named Billy Conn. Louis was warned to watch out for Conn’s great speed and his tactic of darting in to attack and then moving quickly out of his opponent’s range. In a famous display of confidence, Louis replied, “He can run, but he can’t hide.” This statement is even more true when applied to our relationship with God. God is ever present and all knowing. This mystery is celebrated in a popular psalm.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night," 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:1-12)

This sublime truth of faith has often been invoked in popular Christian teaching to put the fear of God in the heart of believers. God is ever watching to pick out our offences. He will note well even our most secret sins and hold them against us on judgment day. This is, in general, the sense in which the Letter of Hebrews uses the omnipresence and omniscience of God in today’s second reading.

The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

The belief that God is everywhere and knows all things, however, can be a very comforting doctrine. We can see it positively as good news and not just as a fear factor to discourage us from sin. Here are three positive inferences we can make from this teaching.

First, no matter what trials and difficulties we are going through, God is there with us. This is a very comforting thought. One of the big temptations that come to us in times of hardship is the thought that God has abandoned us. Even Jesus had this temptation on the cross when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). The belief that God is always there with us comes to reassure us in such moments so that we do not slip from doubt into despair.

Secondly, people only see our actions, which are not always impressive. But God knows our intentions, our efforts and struggles to do right, and so does not hold it against us as people do. That God knows the innermost thoughts of our hearts means that God understands us completely. God knows that deep down we are good people. We mean to do right. But as St. Paul also experienced, we often find ourselves doing the opposite. “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Roman 7:15). People around us may not understand our apparent inconsistency. But God who knows everything and who understands us from within knows that deep down we still love Him.

Finally, it sometimes happens that adversaries and rivals gang up against us. We find ourselves falsely accused, declared guilty, and punished. At such heartbreaking moments, it helps to know that we have a God who knows exactly what the truth is and will vindicate us by and by, as He vindicated His Son Jesus Christ.

Next time we see a symbol of the ever watchful eye of God, let us think not just that God is watching us as a traffic officer watches the traffic to fish out traffic offenders, but that He is watching over us as a good father watches over his little child who is learning to walk.