A primary weapon in no-touch torture is relentlessly negative, condemning speech. As a way of breaking a targeted person’s spirit, covertly employed individuals surrounding him such as neighbors, workmates, and others will slyly use casual conversation as a weapon to constantly denigrate the victim. Such poisonous, destructive talk is tailored to the circumstances of each targeted individual. In my case, the torturers seek to turn my love for God against me. How so? By convincing me that the perverse, merciless surveillance they practice is in imitation of God. “God is always watching you, ready to punish any mistake you make,” is their claim. Is their view of God an accurate one? Is God really like a rabid, merciless prosecutor, constantly searching every detail of our lives, relishing any opportunity to punish our weaknesses and mistakes? In actuality, nothing could be farther from the truth.
The Bible does teach that Our Heavenly Father is interested in each of us personally. “ALL hearts Jehovah is searching, and every inclination of the thoughts he is discerning.” (1 Chronicles 28:9) Why does he carefully search through our figurative hearts and examine the “inclination of (our) thoughts?” It is because God constantly searches for the good in our hearts even though we are far from perfect. To illustrate: A prospector will carefully and patiently sift through much rock and sand, looking for a tiny bit of gold. When he finds that gold, he rejoices, and carefully preserves it, while discarding the worthless rocks. God searches our hearts, seeking any good he can cherish and reward. Yet, he is willing to ‘discard,’ or forgive our many mistakes or flaws.
A practical example of how God does this can be found in the Bible account of Abijah. Abijah lived in a wicked household. His father, Jeroboam, was the head of a dynasty that had turned the nation of Israel away from true worship of God. Therefore, Jehovah purposed to make a clean sweep of Jeroboam’s house, “just as one clears away the dung.” (1 Kings 14:10) But God ordered that only one member of Jeroboam’s household, Abijah—who was gravely ill—be given an honorable burial. Why? God explained: “Something good toward Jehovah the God of Israel has been found in him in the house of Jeroboam.” (1 Kings 14:1, 12, 13) What do these words tell us about Abijah?
Abijah was not a worshipper of the true God. And, he was in a wicked household. Yet, while “sifting” through all the bad in Abijah’s heart, God found a bit of genuine goodness. In other words, there was some good deed or kindness that Abijah had done that God considered noteworthy. And he rewarded that good, by allowing this gravely ill man to be given an honorable burial.
Now, think of the beautiful facet of God’s personality this act reveals to us. Recall that something good was “found in” Abijah. Our loving Heavenly Father searched through Abijah’s heart until He found a trace of goodness. He cherished this goodness and rewarded it, granting a measure of mercy to this one member of a wicked family.
Knowing this, should move us to draw closer to our Heavenly Father. He wants the best for all of us. Rather than mercilessly searching for any error that he can punish, He is always searching for some good that he can cherish and reward. “If errors were what you watch, O Jah, O Jehovah, who could stand?” -Psalm 130:3
It is sad that God is so cruelly misrepresented by crafty slanderers, looking to distort our view of Him, and destroy us in the process. I truly hope that this honest look at God’s personality will help any seeking help to call upon Him in prayer, confident that he comes to the aid of those “earnestly seeking him.” ” . . .for he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him. . .” -Hebrews 11:6


