Articles
Total Exposure
From Brad Glinkerman’s post on the Equifax data breach:
“Equifax, one of the three major credit reporting agencies, was hacked. As a result, about 143 million US citizens had their entire credit history stolen. That is about 44-57% of all Americans (depending on what age range you use), or 75% of adults.
“What was stolen? Your entire credit history … include(ing) your SSN, past and current addresses, all active and inactive accounts (loans, credit cards, etc.), any type of credit inquiry (if you applied for a loan, had a background check, rented an apartment, etc.), any recent bankruptcies, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, and for 209,000 lucky individuals, your credit card numbers were also stolen.
“This is much more serious than many of the other hacks that have been in the news over the past several years. With those hacks, mostly just credit card information was stolen. In this case, what was stolen cannot be changed and is part of you for your entire life.”
The idea of all of your personal financial information being exposed to potential crooks is a tad unnerving (thanks to Brad for the post outlining protective steps to mitigate the damage). But there is something more significant than a financial data breach, and it affects every human being without exception. As vulnerable as the Equifax hack may make us feel, the truth is that all of our inner being – our true thoughts, motives, sinful desires – the things we keep hidden from others – is constantly exposed to our Creator and Judge. “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account”(Heb 4:13).
Let’s break that down:
“There is no creature hidden from His sight.” God’s awareness of His creation is hard to grasp. Humans do not have the capacity to know everyone, and those we do know can hide from us. I had an aunt who abruptly left home in her late twenties and was never heard from again. My parents eventually tracked down her gravesite and learned that she had died prematurely from cancer. Fugitives go on the lam, hermits go off the grid, but we cannot escape the all-seeing eye of our creator.
On His way to the cross Jesus warned the grieving women that a dreadful day of wrath would descend upon Jerusalem, and when it did “they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’” (Lk 23:30). Later, John told of a similar judgment to come upon the Roman world, “And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves … and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Rev 6:15-17). But there is nowhere to hide from God.
How can we fathom such divine consciousness of the whereabouts and circumstances of every soul on the planet at all times? He knows who is sick, when danger nears, who needs correction or comfort. David marveled at this omniscient quality: “You know my sitting down and my rising up … and are acquainted with all my ways. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? … If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You” (Ps 139:2-3, 7, 11-12).
And if this is not sufficiently amazing …
“All things are naked and open to the eyes of [God].” We have limited awareness; our knowledge is acquired and cannot cover the breadth of what is ascertainable. Especially off-limits are the thoughts of others. We can only know the inner working of another’s mind insofar as they reveal it to us. But God has no gaps or blind spots regarding any of His creation. The mundane knowledge of God – the number of hairs on our head (Mt 10:30) or naming of every star (Ps 147:4) – pales beside His perfect insight into every true motive, desire and intention of each person. Think about that the next time your spouse puzzles you or you wonder what your child is really thinking or you don’t know if the salesman is telling the truth.
And God is the one “to whom we must give account.” The Bible plainly reveals a future day of reckoning, the moment when every person who has ever lived “must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body … whether good or bad” (2 Cor 5:10). While we all hope that life-wrecking data thieves will face judgment, we must remember that we, too, will be standing in the same line.
So, what do we do with this knowledge?
1. Trust that all our personal information is in the hands of a just, patient and kind Being – unlike those who may fraudulently have our financial details. He will use His knowledge to help us, provide for our needs, protect us from harm when we don’t even know we’re in danger.
2. Realize that while we can fool others, we cannot pull the wool over God’s eyes. This is either deeply disturbing or a relief depending on the kind of person we are. The only sensible course is to be open and honest with God, for He already knows what we’ve done or what we’re thinking.
3. Use the word of God to identify and diagnose our true selves so that we can correct our mistakes, adjust our attitudes and concentrate on what really matters: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword … and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb 4:12; cf. Jas 1:21-27).
4. Ease your mind by God’s awareness of what goes on in the back halls of Congress, in the nuclear labs of rogue nations, in every crooked scheme to defraud and destroy innocent people. God already knows what Wiki-Leaks leaks. When the king of Syria was frustrated because the Israelites knew his every move, one of his servants explained: “Elisha … tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom” (2 Kgs 6:12).
5. Be comforted in that God sees the anxiety we hide from others, the frustration of repeated failure, the insecurity that robs us of courage. Our vulnerability safe in God’s hands. He will not use it against us; rather, it is His punch list to bring us to perfection.
