“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29
“When he calls to me, I will answer him.” Psalm 91:15a
“You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forth I announce to you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.” Isaiah 48:6-8
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
“Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 29:11-13; 33:2-3
The Lord God is infinite in knowing and imagination, and does not hoard His secrets. Repeatedly He beckons His children come, call out, inquire, and seek, and He promises to welcome, hear, answer, and reveal. He designed us so that part of our process of grasping His great and hidden things is honed in the desire, the searching. We need to realize we do not know and understand before experiencing the grace of His enlightenment, to grasp that magnificent treasures are supernaturally apprehended and comprehended for them to be valued as uniquely His. (James 1:5)
In the deluge of information at the ready, we are often complacent with what is delivered to us. Why expend effort or time to dig when a glut of opinion and remedies are easily available? O, what we miss out on in the pining and the panning! (Proverbs 1:5-7; 2:1-15)
The trouble with accepting what is offered at no cost is that we grow lazy in discernment and atrophied in the muscles of faith. We take things at face value and never look below the surface. We never know the thrill of reaching and discovery, navigating deep in exploration, adjusting to the brilliant new light of the Spirit’s illumination. We may own adequate information to get by with bland faith, but will never experience the fullness of a life given to knowing Christ.
What do I long to understand about and have from Jesus? When is the last time I sought His treasure? What effort do I exert, in prayer and study, to know Him, His ways, His plans for me?
“Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
all praise we would render, O help us to see
’tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.” ~Walter C. Smith (1867)
Lord, keep me pressing on to know You, and so live for Your glory. (Hosea 6:3)
As the rain and snow 