In sight
If you want to know where your child goes, tech now exists that will help you follow their travels and pinpoint where they are at any moment. As long as they have a service that links them to the web. You, as a parent, can know 24/7 where your child is. Well, at least you can know where their phone is. But every parent also knows where the phone is - the child will be. That said, even with the all-powerful smartphone linking technology, knowing what a person is doing at a particular location is nearly impossible unless you are with that person.
You may see your child at the local hangout but have no idea that they are in the back of the establishment using illicit drugs. You may see that your daughter is at her friend's house. But the phone link isn't going to reveal that a special boy in her school is with her in her friend's bedroom. There are hundreds of other scenarios to reference that would make a parent's skin crawl. You can know where your child is, but you have no clear view of what they are doing there.
God Almighty, as a loving Father, examines our ways which are in full view to His ever-caring eyes.
That leads us to our verse from Proverbs. In chapter five of King Solomon's book, the wise king states, "Your ways are in full view of the Lord." Now, to most of us that is a scary thought. God sees clearly every single act that I do. Nothing is hidden - not one thing. Solomon ensures that we understand God's view of our ways is "full." There is no blur or obscuring of the line of sight on our actions as far as God's viewpoint is concerned.
Almighty God sees our actions absolutely and without obstruction. But it is more than our actions. It is our "ways." The definition of way is a method, style or manner of doing something. So God's view goes well beyond simply knowing what we do. God sees the path I take, and how I take it. He knows why I take the path and with whom I travel. Almighty God knows my heart and soul, what I intend to do, when I will do it, and what I expect to be the outcome of it. The Lord sees the whole picture - with no fuzziness, fog, or haze.
And the verse goes even further into this somewhat awful scenario. Solomon says that the Lord "examines all your paths." Yes. There is a difference between viewing and examining something. Examine means to "investigate thoroughly." This verse tells us that our God fully sees the things we do, why and how we do them, and who we do them with. Going beyond simply viewing this, our God thoroughly investigates and inspects these things in detail to understand them.
God is all-knowing, so this process is unlike a scientist figuring out some newfound phenomenon. In fact, the process described in Proverbs 5:21 is more like a parent understanding a child. It is easy for a parent to know why a child does most things. Understanding how they did them or what they expected from them can be more challenging. Still, that information is not obscure to Almighty God.
What Solomon neglected to provide in his writing was the reason why God would fully view our ways and examine our paths. We know God is the Judge. He is King. He is Almighty. As mentioned, knowing that the Almighty Judge is viewing our every action in full light can be scary. However, the examination of our ways is not for judgment. At least not for God's child. Does a loving parent seek out a child's ways to provide judgment upon their action - to condemn them? No! A loving parent examines the ways of a child, seeking a way to help the child. When actions warrant discipline, it will come. But a loving parent looks to guide toward a better path.
If we can be good to our children, how much more is our Heavenly Father good to His children? God's purpose in examining the ways of His children is to bring healing, to turn all things for good, and to provide a new way. Our God is a loving Father, full of mercy and abundant in grace. Our ways are in full view of His ever-caring eyes, and that's good. Without the help of our Almighty Father, we will inevitably continue in our errant ways. But with God, all things are possible! Praise be to His wonderful, loving Name!