Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

I was with B.B. in the “green room’, Aunt Pink and Aunt Gwen’s restroom outside the den where the Sunday school class was now held.

The entire Turtle team was back home for the weekend, for an oil change.  Sometimes, “oil change” is a euphemism for a change of scenery, a little rest, and chance to thoroughly wash the clothing and clean up the equipment, but this time, Easy had to get the vehicle serviced and the annual inspection completed.

I told B.B. how Sophie had done my hair.  She snickered, but she went along with it.

But then, she added, “You know, Stinker, you are pathetic.”

I asked, “But you like me in spite of that, right?”

B.B. replied, “I love you because of that.  You make me laugh.”

I asked, “Laugh at or laugh …”

B.B. interrupted, “Don’t push it, girlfriend.  We surely missed you for the past two weeks.  I think Wilma is going to work out if she can shuffle her schedule as a fill-in on the team.  But she is very tiring to be around.  Think of Arabella on uppers or steroids.  No, uppers and steroids.  We still have two more, Mitzi and Fred.  We at least need one of those two, if not both.  But it would have been nice having your input.  This entire Turtle thing is all about chemistry.  And Dr. Kildare has been silent about what his big late summer hurricane plan is.  He says that I might have a lot of video to work with.  Sometimes that is a curse.  It takes a long time to review the raw footage, more time in editing.  And then, you still do not know how many episodes it really will make until you are nearly done.”

I snickered, “That’s my B.B.  You can complain in the most luxurious bubble bath about the size of the bubbles.”

B.B. huffed, “Hey!  Bubble size is important!”

We went into the den laughing.  I muttered, “Bubble size is important.  That’s a good one.”

From the far side of the room, Margie said, “It’s all according to what kind of bubbles.”

I stopped and was wondering how she heard that from across the room, “Oh, I forgot!  The sound system.  No visible speaker, but wherever you sit, everyone can hear, except in the corners where we put the toys for the children.”

Joseph led us in prayer.  He covered travel mercies for all those who were away or were about to leave.  He reminded everyone that if their prayer request status changes, he can print a new list.

Emmett led his septet.  The lead was sung by Arabella.  At alto, there was Brooke and Mercedes Lothrop.  At tenor, Michael and Emmett.  Dr. Ben sang baritone.  And Goober sang bass.  The hymn was God Will Take Care of You.

I asked, “Why that song, Emmett?”

Emmett said, “If God is omnipresent, which He is, then He is also everywhere, all at once.  He loves us, too.  So, God has as much of Himself taking care of me as He does taking care of everyone else.  Of course, I had to go that way with our topic about God knowing everything to keep Belle from getting creeped out even more.”  Belle simply giggled and scrunched her head between her shoulders.

Michael said, “Aunt Jemima, since Samuel is on vacation, he asked me to ask you, ‘What Attribute of God are we studying today?’”

I laughed, “You are keeping this routine going?  I commend you, Michael. We are studying our response to God’s Omniscience.  Do you need Mr. Dictionary?”

Arabella said, “Nope.  I remember the last time.  God knows everything.  He even knows what I am going to say next.”

I asked, “And what are you going to say next?”

Arabella replied, “Only God knows!  I don’t have a clue!”

Michael, her boyfriend, snickered, “Which explains a lot!”

Emmett simply shook his head.

I asked, “Who are the next ones to go on vacation?”

Emmett said, “I hate to break it to you, Aunt Jemima, but Soap and I may be gone on a working vacation.  Elroy and Irusya too.”

I asked, “What?!  Sophie, do your Mom and Dad know?”

Sophie nodded, “Yep, Mom gave her okay before Dad did.  But that is all we can say about it.  Oh, and Blaise is coming too.”

I said, “I hope you two will be chaperoned.”

Blaise said, “Me being along is not a good chaperone?!  I feel that I am not being given full credit here.”

Margie said, “Blaise, dearest sweetheart, I would be worried too.”  Blaise just groaned.

Sophie said, “It’s a Rogue’s Scholars road test.  There will be plenty of chaperones.  Since the rest is need to know, you don’t need to know.”

I shrugged.  I had so many questions, but it was obvious that I would not get any answers.

But one question had to be asked, “Who leads music next week?”

Darrell said, “Em and I have jammed a little bit.  He thinks I can strum the guitar, and we can sing something.”  Really, he said that he could strum the git-tar, n’ we cud sang sump’n, but I translated.

Blaise (Psalm 139:1-6) “You have searched me, Lord, 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, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

Blaise smiled, “Thank you, Sis, for trusting me in reading a long passage.  It talks about God knowing us from the ways someone of that time would understand.  It even mentions what Belle said earlier.  God knows what we will say before we say it.  He knows what direction we go, when we will go to bed or wake up.”

Margie said, “That was very good, and I am going to miss you, sweetheart.  I wish I could go with you.”  She leaned in close and gave him a lengthy kiss.

I groaned, “Joseph, is this acceptable behavior?”

Joseph snickered, “Under the circumstances.  Besides, their therapy is going extremely well.”

Sophia (Jeremiah 1:5) “’Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’”

Sophie said, “Well, this is tricky.  Before Jeremiah was even formed in the womb God knew him and appointed him a prophet.  Even though this is past tense, God did not have foreknowledge of Jeremiah.  God knew Jeremiah.  Being outside time and space, God is looking at Emmett’s and my grandchildren, although he has never proposed.  I am just hoping in that regard.  But God can see into our minds and bodies, but we are trapped in time.  For everyone who accepts Christ, God knew them before they were conceived.  Surely life starts at conception, because God formed us in our mother’s womb.  Oops, some may think that a political thing, but this verse says that it is a God thing.”

I smiled, “Nice way of putting it, Sophie.”

Emmett (Romans 11:33-34) “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’”

Emmett said, “God’s knowledge, according to this, is kind of like the combination of omnipresence with immanence and transcendence.  With those God is everywhere, within all things, and hovering over all things.  Each of those means something different to us.  We have no place to hide from God.  God is interested in every cell division in our bodies.  And God hovers over to take care of us and, within free will, have certain things happen so that His will be done.  His omniscience is about the same in the depth of His knowledge.  He has foreknowledge, knowing what will happen.  He not only knows what we will say, but He knows why we will say it or do it.  So, when we consider His judgments, they go to those depths.  I have heard the television drama use the phrase ‘malice aforethought.’  We can only determine that if there is proof that the crime was well planned beforehand, but God already knows that.  With omniscience, we cannot hide our thoughts, our motives, nor our attitudes.”

Sophie asked, “Em, do you watch police dramas?”

Emmett said, “If that is what you want to be, then I need to understand it better.”  They kissed, but it was a short, smack.

I asked, “Are there any others who will not be here next week?”

Gordo said, “I think I may be on shift.”

Tammie snickered, “You may be sleepy.  You are on graveyard shift.  You can still come to the class and then go to bed.”

Julia said, “Do you know about my betrothed’s schedules better than I?”

Tammie snickered, “Maybe for this, there was a shuffle in the schedule, and Gordo volunteered for the extra shift.”

Gordo (Sknarf to a few) groaned, “If I had known it was a graveyard shift, I might have still done it, but I wouldn’t have been so eager.”

Gordo (Proverbs 15:3) “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”

Gordo said, “That kind of ties into what Emmett said.  It’s not just that God is everywhere, but His eyes see everything.  And He is not just keeping watch over the saved, but the wicked also.”

Julia (Luke 12:6-7) “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

Julia said, “It seems that every time Jesus brings up sparrows, He is talking about worrying.  Sparrows must be the animal with the least worries in the world.”

Gordo added, “Either that or they are so stupid that they do not know they should be worried.”

Julia snickered, “Sknarf, I love you, but it’s my turn.  Jesus talks about not worrying in Matthew and in Luke, both times hinting that we might be more important than a sparrow or two.  So, we should not worry.  But if we trust God instead of worrying, that means that God is in control.  He knows what we need, and He sees to it.”

I nodded, “Okay, all the Turtle team members.  You should know Julia from the security team.  She is filling in for Missy while the MacDougalls have their grand adventure in Scotland.  And Gordo has another nickname, but he prefers Gordo, which is Fatso in Mexico.  He is not fat, but it is short for Gordon.  He is here from Georgia, and he and Julia describe their relationship as betrothed.  I saw some puzzled looks, but that should be an adequate introduction.”

Thomas (Psalm 33:13-15) “From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.”

Thomas said, “This speaks of God’s sovereignty and His omniscience.  But I like what verse 15 says about how God formed our hearts.  So, if He formed our heart, He made that God-shaped hole, that desire that must be filled with something, and only God can truthfully fill a God-shaped hole.  But this ends with God considering everything that we do.”

I smiled, “I want to thank everyone for their comments.  God’s omniscience means that God knows our every thought, all our desires, and all our dreams and goals in life.  He loves us, and if those goals and dreams are within His will, He will give us a path to see those dreams come true.  But God even knows all the evil plans of the wicked.  Sometimes their plans unwittingly lead to tests of faith or changing the circumstances that we face.  The Daltons are a great example.  Emmett and Sophia would not be a couple if Lily the Pink had not been emancipated when they were and the Crystal Mountain built.  And now they have a beautiful farm on the County Line.  And that farm now holds the goats for Michael Rowe Casey, and we enjoy his cheeses.  The emancipation here.  Two different floods.  Or maybe we would not be having this class here with these people in attendance.  That gets into a lot of God’s attributes, but God’s omniscience shows that He already knew this would happen and how each of us would come together as one big happy family.”

I heard a voice behind me, “Mommie!  The buses!”

I felt my heart stop.  I said, “Grannie Fannie!  How can you sneak up like that?”

Grannie Fannie was laughing.  “I am going to miss this when Lauren returns.  The buses were pulling in line as I came in.  No one is late.  I am here early to catch the end of Jemima’s lesson.”

I smiled, “Thank you, Grannie Fannie.  And how do you react to God’s omniscience?”

She made a face like she was thinking.  “I made so many mistakes in my life, wasting decades of my life doing the things that God hates.  But even knowing all that, God still loves me.  That is the part of omniscience that is awe inspiring.  God knows every sin we have ever committed and every sin we have thought about committing, which are sins in themselves.  And He still loves us?!  That is an awesome God.”

I giggled, “I love your additions to the class.  I am going to miss those when Lauren gets back.”  I turned back to face the class.

I smiled, “As we have been doing, let’s end with the Mizpah benediction.  Everyone, bow your heads in prayer.  “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.’” (Genesis 31:49b)

Brooke came over and picked up Stormie’s carrier and went with me to the bus.  She asked, “Since I am taking Stormie to the bus every week, is she going to think of me as an aunt or something?”

I looked at Stormie, “Stormie, meet Aunt Brooke.”  Stormie smiled.

Credits

I am now starting to use the David E. Fessenden study guides for The Attributes of God, A Journey into the Father’s Heart by A.W. Tozer, in two volumes. Again, no quotations, just some Scriptures that keep the flow going.  But I will admit that I did a search on the topic and found most of the verses that I used this time.

Here is Rosemary Siemens singing God Will Take Care of You (Be Not Dismayed Whate’er Betide).

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.