Proverbs 25:2Amplified Bible
2
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
I don’t believe it to be coincidence that C. S. Lewis started with a simple game of hide-and-seek when he penned The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Please remember, The land of Narnia was only revealed in all its glory through Lucy’s participation in the process of intentional concealment and discovery.
Although Lewis may or may not have intended it as such, his story depicts the process of hide-and-seek that God often uses to reveal both His glory and ours:
Proverbs 25:2Authorized (King James) Version
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing:
but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
The Process of Mutual Glory
He does not have to do it, but with an undefinable charity, God chooses to most fully glorify Himself by involving us, His Children, in the glorification process.
Lest we be overly concerned, it’s not as if we are snatching away glory rightly due Him by uncovering out what He has hidden. Instead, we bask in the glow of His glory when we do so, and become blessed by our closer proximity to Him.
Think of when God concealed Himself from Moses on Mount Sinai, for example.
God hid Himself from Moses, yet Moses’ face beamed after the experience.
Though no one an see God and live, God revealed only a backward glimpse of Himself to Moses, yet his servant radiated with a glory of his own because of it.
We could call it a process of mutual glory. God gets glory by hiding. We get glory by seeking – and finding our greatest satisfaction when we find Him. As John Piper put it, “God is most magnified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
Do you ever wonder if God is playing hide-and-seek with you?
Even if it does feel like it sometimes, God does not play games with us.
Not even “peek-a-boo I see you, do you see me?” or “I hide-and-you seek.”
Or maybe it is you and I who are playing “peek-a-boo” and hiding from God?
Let me tell you, hiding from God does not work either.
This world does not give much attention to things eternal and invisible.
It is unfashionable, uncool, and extremely odd to be interested in God.
But I am with C.S. Lewis: “How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.”
When you meet God, there is nothing that compares to him.
There is nothing that could replace him.
There is nothing that could be better than him.
Acts 17:24-29The Message
24-29 “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
God does not play peek-a-boo or hide-and-seek with us.
Because he wants to be found.
He wants to be in real relationship with us.
God is not remote, he is near.
In fact, we cannot get away from him!
Being in the presence of God is irresistible once you’ve experienced it.
Being in the presence of God is a renewing experience.
Being in the presence of God is as good as it gets in this life.
St. Ignatius of Loyola has said “He who carries God in his heart bears heaven with him wherever he goes.”
Hiding and Seeking Forever
Only the One who already knows can hide.
That’s the whole point of the hide-and-seek game isn’t it?
The one who conceals knows where he or she is hidden, but no one else.
It would not be all that much fun if the seeker began with infinite knowledge of the exact location of all those have hidden.
But if the Hider had infinite knowledge, He could systematically share it, piece by piece, with the seekers.
If the seeker was created with an innate instinct for seeking – and finding – the process would be the most mutually fulfilling one imaginable.
Psalm 119:17-24The Message
17-24 Be generous with me and I’ll live a full life;
not for a minute will I take my eyes off your road.
Open my eyes so I can see
what you show me of your miracle-wonders.
I’m a stranger in these parts;
give me clear directions.
My soul is starved and hungry, ravenous!—
insatiable for your nourishing commands.
And those who think they know so much,
ignoring everything you tell them—let them have it!
Don’t let them mock and humiliate me;
I’ve been careful to do just what you said.
While bad neighbors maliciously gossip about me,
I’m absorbed in pondering your wise counsel.
Yes, your sayings on life are what give me delight;
I listen to them as to good neighbors!
Sometimes I genuinely wonder if that is what Jesus wants us to learn when He taught us to pray for God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, it will be like?
Could it be an endless process of God hiding –wisdom, truth, reason for praise, beauty, complexity, or the depths of His love – and of our seeking Him out with all faces glowing, hearts burning, and voices gratefully proclaiming His praises?
I hope so.
I Fervently Pray it to be so … to the Glory of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Psalm 119:1-8The Message
119 1-8 You’re blessed when you stay on course,
walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
You’re blessed when you follow his directions,
doing your best to find him.
That’s right—you don’t go off on your own;
you walk straight along the road he set.
You, God, prescribed the right way to live;
now you expect us to live it.
Oh, that my steps might be steady,
keeping to the course you set;
Then I’d never have any regrets
in comparing my life with your counsel.
I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
I’m going to do what you tell me to do;
don’t ever walk off and leave me.
So, let’s get interested in God! Let’s dig deeper, let’s seek God with our whole heart and soul! No matter what is our situation, no matter how materialistic the world around us is, no matter how odd the world thinks we are, let’s seek God!
But even there, if you seek God, your God, you’ll be able to find him if you’re serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul. (Deuteronomy.4:29, MSG)
Let’s get “crazy” interested in seeking God and finding God.
Let’s ask God to reveal and ignite our faith, refuel our faith, and renew our faith.
Psalm 119:49-56The Message
49-56 Remember what you said to me, your servant—
I hang on to these words for dear life!
These words hold me up in bad times;
yes, your promises rejuvenate me.
The haters hate me without mercy,
but I don’t budge from your revelation.
I watch for your ancient landmark words,
and know I’m on the right track.
But when I see the wicked ignore your directions,
I’m beside myself with anger.
I set your instructions to music
and sing them as I walk this pilgrim way.
I meditate on your name all night, God,
treasuring your revelation, O God.
Still, I walk through a rain of derision
because I live by your Word and counsel.
Let’s get interested in what God is doing in this world and how we can partner with him. Let’s get interested in God and his wisdom, his grace, his love, his peace, and his plan for this world! Let’s get interested in the ways of God.
Psalm 119:9-16The Message
9-16 How can a young person live a clean life?
By carefully reading the map of your Word.
I’m single-minded in pursuit of you;
don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted.
I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart
so I won’t sin myself bankrupt.
Be blessed, God;
train me in your ways of wise living.
I’ll transfer to my lips
all the counsel that comes from your mouth;
I delight far more in what you tell me about living
than in gathering a pile of riches.
I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you,
I attentively watch how you’ve done it.
I relish everything you’ve told me of life,
I won’t forget a word of it.
Because there is nothing else in the world that can satisfy our needs, our wants, and our desires than God. There is nothing else in the world that can ignite our spirit. There is nothing else in the world that can hold our interest for eternity.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
To our God and soon coming Savior, I give You thanks. God, I pray today that You will reveal yourself to me and those in my life. May we have an encounter from the true and living God. I pray that the desires of our hearts shall be to seek after You that we may find You finding us, that we may know You as You know us and that we will be men and women after God’s own heart, who diligently, faithfully and over zealously seek after the maximum magnitude of their great God’s glory before our own. Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 