God is not hiding

 

 

READ 2 Timothy

We once had a pastor who occasionally joked that he didn’t spend all his time in the Bible because, “What I don’t know won’t convict me.” Perhaps this was his way of rebuking professing Christians who only opened their Book Sunday mornings or who never bothered to dust it off even on that day.

Yesterday, we chatted with a couple. I can’t remember what prompted it but one of them said, “It’s a good thing that God never tells us what He is doing.” While that is often the case, this verse popped into my mind:

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)

God wants to reveal Himself to us — which He did in the written Word and in Christ. He also wants us to know all that we need so we can live for Him. If I make any excuse to avoid the Bible or think He hides His will, then I could miss His purpose for my life:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

In other words, how can I grow to be like Jesus or do the will of God if I avoid the very means by which God reveals my sin and cleanses it? How can I know His will if I assume He will not direct me? How can I behave appropriately and in ways that glorify Him if I think everything He wants done is mysterious and hidden? If He is silent about everything, I’m left to my own devices. If He gives only general directions, how can I know His specifics when confronted with daily challenges?

Today’s reading adds a few thoughts about what God reveals. One of them is that through others, He shows me how to live, either by their example or by their words of instruction:

For instance, Timothy did what He saw Paul do, knowing that this man’s life was wholly given over to do the revealed will of God. Paul commended this pastor for following “my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness” (2 Timothy 3:10) — all things God revealed to him. Paul needed conviction and direction to fit into the Lord’s plans and do His work His way. He also needed both so he could teach others what God revealed. One example:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:1–4)

Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:4) That means it is our daily food! Without it, I would shrivel and be spiritually ill.

The Lord impresses me with this verse: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” (2 Timothy 2:7) Thinking over the Word of God is a challenge. It is easier to not bother but it is also easy to forget what I do hear. One pastor said that too many people come to church with an empty thimble, get it filled from God’s Word, then spill it all on the way out the door. Another pastor prays, “Lord, heal my amnesia.” I pray that too.

God’s goal is to transform me into the image of His Son. For that to happen, He needs to expose and remove everything that is not like Jesus and add in all that is like Him. These changes happen through the power of His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit — and my cooperation to read it and obey Him. No excuses.

God “disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:10–11) Instead of hiding behind any ideas that He will not speak, or that conviction is to be avoided, seeking God’s thoughts is vital.

This morning, I feel weary, even angry and sad at the way goodness is often mocked and the name of Jesus is used to curse rather than uplift. I want to see God do astonishing things in my life and in the lives of others. Lord, deepen my understanding and reveal to me whatever You want me to see . . . and also reveal Yourself and whatever You want others to see. May Your glory become so evident that our hunger for You overrides the challenges that seeing You might bring.