WhatsApp, the largest messaging app in the world, with an increase of approximately half a billion users every two years, had 2 billion users as of 2020. The group recently caused an uproar with regards to a change in its privacy policy. The major concern arose around fear that data sent on WhatsApp as well as contact information would be shared and visible on the social media platform Facebook.
Amidst the fear surrounding WhatsApp, its rivals Signal, and Telegram seized the opportunity and their user base skyrocketed in the space of a month. This post is inspired by a sermon I recently listened to entitled Desperately Seeking (https://georgecfm.com/ps-r-v-staden/). What are you searching for on the internet, on social media, on google? What are you seeking? Search engines like Google, social media platforms like Facebook collect & store your search data, your location, and other information about you. This is so that when you log in or go online, your entire history is available at the click of a button. And with every update and every new change in the app or the web page, there is always some new terms and conditions, new privacy policies that you need to accept.
The world is ever changing. In a world where social media, google, and the internet at large, has got more information about your thoughts, your emotions and your general life, the question today that should be on our minds is – How is your life? We need to understand that our search patterns is a reflection of your heart & mind.
You see the world has a privacy policy, yet many of us forget that there is one that is in God’s word that we seem to take for granted and seem to ignore.
Luke 12:2-3 (AMP)
2 But there is nothing [so carefully] concealed that it will not be revealed, nor so hidden that it will not be made known. 3 For that reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.
1.God Knows Everything
The word to describe God knowing everything is omniscience – And that means God is all knowing. The omniscience of God is perfect, meaning, God does not have to study about us, he does not have to google to find out who we are or go onto google maps to find our location, He knows everything in our past, our present and our future.
The world needs us to accept terms and conditions, privacy policies, share our location and give information about what we enjoy, our thoughts our emotions. When we share this information on various platforms such as social media, google and messaging apps, we are giving the world permission to infiltrate our lives and bombard our minds with unnecessary junk. We also give permission for our personal lives to be spread around the world. And the amazing part about it, is that we never question it.
Unlike the world, God does not need our permission in order to know what we are thinking or what we want, he does not need us to tick in the box, or to accept the terms and conditions.
Psalm 139: 1-6 (NKJV)
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You [a]comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have [b]hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
David says of God, you have searched me, you know me, you are acquainted with all my ways, the is the perfect knowledge of God, about us. David goes on to say, such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is beyond me.
God knows your location – 24/7/365. He knows your thoughts, he knows your heart, in fact the bible tells us that God knows the number of hairs on our head, and if that makes your head spin (no pun intended), you gotta, read this:
Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)
“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart.
You were not even formed in your mother’s womb, God knew you, he knew what you would think, he knew where you would live, who you would marry, what job you would have, he doesn’t need no privacy policy acceptance by you, to know everything about you.
This friends’ blows my mind. It amazes me that with the billions of people in the world God knows me, and not just knows me he loves me, and he died for me.
We cannot hide from the presence of God.
Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
David, clearly understood this aspect, that you cannot escape from the presence of God, you cannot escape from the fact that God knows everything about you, and to the extent he even knows you, before you know yourself (how mind boggling is that friends)
Maybe you feel that God is putting you into a box, but I want to assure you today, that best place to be is to be consistently in the watchful eye of God. Jonah, David, Paul, Elijah, Moses – all these men understood that this was the best place to be.
2. Nothing will be hidden
When you go into a website or download an app, they will always give you the terms and conditions or the privacy policies of the app or webpage you are going into. This basically gives them permission to know your location, your contacts, and your personal details like contact information. It also gives them your search patterns, your interests, likes and dislike. This information can be used for whatever purposes the company feels necessary.
At times we do not want the world to see the real us, the real me. We hide things away, we put on a façade, a show. This is typical of what happens on social media, we always want to paint a good picture of us, a picture where the world would think how successful, or how important or even how super spiritual we are.
But all of this is empty, it is meaningless, and only a means of satisfying our human need to be wanted, and to be popular. I asked the question at the beginning – How is your life? Who are you looking to impress?
Everything will be revealed, your deepest desires, secrets, will all be revealed.
Luke 8:17 (GW)
There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. There is nothing kept secret that will not come to light.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 (KJV)
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
We can hide all we want from the world, we can choose to put on a pretence, but when it comes to God, we cannot hide, and we cannot run. Everything will come out in the open. Scripture tells us that whatever is in the dark will be exposed by the light.
Luke 12:2-3 in the Amplified says that you can go about carefully concealing the real you, your actions and thoughts, we can even be so meticulous about covering up who we are, but this will not last. No matter how much you think you are hiding sin and the things that go against the word of God. And maybe today you think that you are getting away with it, maybe today you think that you will never be caught out, you will never be exposed. The bible tells us that whatever is in the darkness will be revealed in the light.
Proverbs 15:3 (GNT)
The LORD sees what happens everywhere; he is watching us, whether we do good or evil.
Hebrews 4:13 (AMP)
And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give account.
David understood that there are things that the world might not see that God sees. and he asks God to forgive and to cleanse him of all this unseen, unintended, unconscious sins.
Psalm 19:12 (AMP)
Who can understand his errors or omissions? Acquit me of hidden (unconscious, unintended) faults.
3. Exposed by the light
Social media & the internet needs our input in order to expose what is deep within our hearts and our minds. It uses our search patterns, our friend lists and all those websites and apps that we are keen to follow, in order to expose who, we are and what we try to hide from the world.
John 3:19-21 (GW)
19 This is why people are condemned: The light came into the world. Yet, people loved the dark rather than the light because their actions were evil. 20 People who do what is wrong hate the light and don’t come to the light. They don’t want their actions to be exposed. 21 But people who do what is true come to the light so that the things they do for God may be clearly seen.
John tells us that those who are living in sin, living lives that goes against the word of God, they do not like the light, and will not come into the light, for fear that their deeds will be exposed. I’ve heard some people say, that they do not want to expose themselves to the preaching of the word, because they fear the Holy Spirit convicting them of their sin.
We would rather remain in the dark, remain in our sin, remain in the place where we are while we have the breath of life than allow God to change us & God to help us.
The light of God exposes who we are without us even knowing, there is nothing that we can hide from God today. Sin only keeps you in bondage, it takes you away from the love of God, and the joy of being in the presence of God.
Ephesians 5:11-13 (AMP)
11 Do not participate in the worthless and unproductive deeds of darkness, but instead expose them [by exemplifying personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character]; 12 for it is disgraceful even to mention the things that such people practice in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light [of God’s precepts], for [a]it is light that makes everything visible.
Paul tells us as well, all things become visible when they are exposed by the light of God.
As long as we remain in the dark, as long as are not willing to expose ourselves to the light, we will always be bound, we will always be living a life of secrecy, a life that is not filled with the love of God. When you are in darkness you cannot see, you cannot find your way, and we will not be able to see what sins are in our life, what is wrong in our lives as long as we remain in darkness.
We need to expose ourselves to light.The preaching of Gods word, worship, fellowship with other believers, we need to constantly allow ourselves to be exposed to the things of God.God wants us to enjoy perfect love, he wants us to enjoy being in his watchful eye.
John 8:12 (NKJV)
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”
I want to encourage you today, if you have drifted away from God, if you have found yourself in darkness, your mind and heart on things that are not Godly, expose yourself to the light. Expose yourself to Jesus Christ. He loves you and he wants a relationship with you.
Feel free to comment or share a testimony
God bless
Trevor Naidoo
10.02.2021
The Potter's House Church 