The Telescope Maker Who Was Already Known

In 1725, a young Scottish craftsman named James Short began grinding lenses in Edinburgh, unknown to anyone beyond his small parish. He had no patron, no university post — just a quiet obsession with perfecting telescope mirrors in a rented room above a cobbler's shop. Then one afternoon, the renowned mathematician Colin Maclaurin walked into that cramped workshop, examined Short's mirrors, and said something that changed everything: "I have been watching your work for some time."

Maclaurin had heard reports of Short's extraordinary precision. He had studied samples of his grinding technique. He already knew what Short could become — before Short himself did. That single encounter launched a career that would make James Short the finest telescope maker in all of Britain, whose instruments revealed the moons of Jupiter to a generation of astronomers.

Nathanael sat under a fig tree, probably studying Torah, probably wondering if the Almighty had forgotten the promises made to Israel. He was skeptical, honest, perhaps a little cynical. But when Jesus said, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you," something broke open. This was no ordinary rabbi making conversation. This was someone who knew him — truly knew him — before they ever met face to face.

The God who calls us is never meeting us for the first time. Before we ever turn toward Him, He has already been watching, already delighting in what He created us to become.