God Knows My Tomorrow

Daily Office Readings — Thursday, September 10, 2026
Psalms 50, 59, 60, 93, 96; Job 29:1; 31:1–23; Acts 15:1–11; John 11:17–29

There is a thread running through today’s Daily Office readings that I almost missed.

God knows.

Psalm 50 begins with God calling the people to judgment. God tells Israel, in essence, “I don’t need your animals. They already belong to me.” God owns the cattle, the birds, and everything that moves in the fields.

What God desires is thanksgiving, faithfulness, and trust.

That reminds me of Jesus’ words in John 4:24 about worshiping God in spirit and in truth. True worship is more than outward religious activity. It comes from within.

Then God speaks to those who recite God’s words while their lives tell another story. That reminds me of Jesus’ warnings about outward displays of religion—and also of the publican who could only pray, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

It is easy for me to read passages like this and think about somebody else’s hypocrisy.

Then I remember Matthew 7:1.

The mirror turns around.

Psalm 59 reminds me that there is strength in trusting God when trouble surrounds us. I think of Hebrews 11:1 and its description of faith as assurance concerning what we hope for and conviction concerning what we cannot see.

I also think of Elisha’s servant. He could see the enemy army surrounding them, but he couldn’t see what Elisha saw.

Sometimes what I can see isn’t everything that is there.

Perhaps that is another way of praying the Jesus Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, teach me to see.

Psalm 60 takes us somewhere else. David has experienced defeat. He knows what it feels like when things don’t work out as expected. Victory will require something beyond his own strength.

Then Psalms 93 and 96 remind us who God is.

God reigns.

God is eternal.

God is Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.

I hear Psalm 46:1 echoing behind all of these Psalms: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Then I came to Job.

Job wants God to weigh him on honest scales because Job believes something his circumstances cannot tell him:

God knows.

That brought me back to something I learned and wrestled with in seminary—the relationship between Chronos and Kairos, human time and God’s time, and especially the theological question of God’s foreknowledge.

We live our lives moment by moment. Yesterday has passed. Tomorrow hasn’t arrived. I am here, today.

But God is eternal.

And that leads me to something very important in my understanding of God:

God knows my tomorrow without taking away my freedom today.

God’s foreknowledge is not the same thing as God causing everything that happens.

Because God knows does not mean God made it happen.

That distinction matters to me.

Job can say, “God knows,” without saying God caused every terrible thing that happened to him. Job doesn’t understand what is happening. His friends certainly don’t understand it. But Job can appeal to the One who knows him completely.

That reminds me of Nathanael.

Before Nathanael met Jesus, Jesus had already seen him.

God knows.

I suppose that is why an old television theme song comes to mind—the one from Cheers, about going somewhere everybody knows your name.

There is something deeply comforting about being known.

God knows my name.

But God knows much more than my name.

God knows my heart.

And that brings us directly to Acts 15.

The early church was wrestling with a serious question. Did Gentiles have to be circumcised and follow Jewish requirements before they could truly belong?

Peter stood and reminded them of what God had already done.

God, who knows the human heart, had given the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles just as God had to them. God had made no distinction between “us” and “them.” Their hearts had been cleansed through faith.

And then Peter brings everything back to grace:

We are saved through the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.

There it is again.

God knows the heart.

God knows—and grace comes.

Then we arrive at the grave of Lazarus in John 11.

Martha is grieving. Her brother is dead. Jesus tells her that he is the resurrection and the life.

Then Jesus asks Martha a question:

“Do you believe this?”

Martha answers that she believes Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who has come into the world.

That reminds me of Romans 10:9—confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts.

But something else struck me.

Jesus already knew Martha.

Jesus knew her heart.

Jesus knew what she would say.

And Jesus still asked the question.

God knows.

Martha is free.

Jesus invites.

Martha responds.

Grace is present.

Relationship happens.

And suddenly Galatians 5 becomes even more meaningful to me:

“For freedom Christ has set us free.”

God’s knowing does not make us puppets.

Grace doesn’t destroy freedom.

Grace makes relationship possible.

The Spirit works within us, and the fruit begins to grow—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Perhaps that is what I am hearing throughout today’s readings.

God knows me completely.

God knows where I have been.

God knows where I am.

God knows where my pilgrimage will take me tomorrow.

Yet I am standing here today, free to trust, free to love, free to choose, free to stumble, free to get back up, and free to follow Jesus.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds.

But God knows.

And the God who knows my tomorrow does not stand over me manipulating every moment.

The God who knows my tomorrow walks with me today.

So once again I hear Jesus asking Martha—and perhaps asking me:

“Do you believe this?”

Yes, Lord.

I believe.

God knows my tomorrow without taking away my freedom today.

And that is freedom in Christ.