Great and mighty things thou knowest not

“Call to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).

God knows a zillion things we do not.

Let’s start with that no-brainer.

The overwhelming majority of “things God knows” are, I expect, reserved exclusively for Him. “The secret things belong to God,” we’re told in Deuteronomy 29:29. The farthest reaches of this enormous universe are seen and appreciated only by Him and His legions.  And the heavenly realm itself is His and His alone.

However.

The Heavenly Father has many things He is dying to show us, to reveal to us, to allow us to stumble upon, or learn in His classroom.

“The secret things belong to the Lord,” Deuteronomy 29:29 does indeed declare. But that’s not all it says. “But those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of the law.”

Got that? What He has revealed to us now belongs to us. We are stewards of such wonderful mysteries.

And the point of our possessing such revelations is “that we may obey.”

God loves  for us to make discoveries; He loves to reveal His truth.

The one thing He requires are willing pupils.  The best students are people who want to learn God’s word, to know HIs heart, to do His will.

That would be us. Right?  You and me?

Some have said that the work of scientists is to “think God’s thoughts after Him.”  That works for me.

God loves for us to pray: He loves to show us great and mighty things through prayer.

Great things, mighty things, things we do not know, things revealed by Him to the faithful, those who “call to Him.”  We have not because we do not ask, we’re told.

What great thing are you asking God for?

We can ask for nothing greater than “Thy will be done in me,” since His will is far superior to anything we would have dreamed up.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:11).  And there is this: “Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him” (2 Corinthians 2:9).

God loves a great deal of stuff; He loves to uncover it and show it to those who seek Him.

So, ask Him, and ask big.

“Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring;

For HIs grace and power are such, None can ever ask too much.”   –John Newton

Don’t be afraid.

God loves for us to have faith; He shows us great and mighty things through faith.

“Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?” the Lord asked the grieving sister of Lazarus.  At that, He proceeded to raise her brother, dead four whole days, from the tomb (John 11).

The glory of God was on display in that village.

The Lord does not give His great gifts to the doubters and unbelievers. “For without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).  We’re told Jesus departed from some villages doing no miracles because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:58). That’s so sad since the living God was in their midst.

“We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Have you seen the glory of the Lord lately?

God shows us great and mighty things through our obedience.

He does not reward the disobedient rebel.  He does not bless the headstrong with His insights and miracles.  “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (I Peter 5:5).  He refuses to arm rebels.

As Jesus saw the coming demolition of Jerusalem, He wept over the city of God.  “I would have gathered you into my arms like a mother hen does her chicks,” He said. “But you were unwilling.” (Matthew 23:37).

God forces His blessings on no one.  In fact, Revelation 3:20 pictures the Lord of Heaven and earth bringing heaven’s blessings right up to our front door, but stopping there. “I stand at your door and knock,” He says. “If any one hear my voice and open the door,” the blessings of heaven are theirs.

Only the obedient and responsive get the blessings.

The obedient and faithful saw the risen Christ. “To whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

Only the obedient received proofs of the resurrection; everyone else only heard the rumors.

God wants to give more than we want to receive, wishes to reveal more than we expect to find, and is willing to bless more than we would ever think to ask.

Morris Freeman was my pastor and I was his new young, untried associate.  He had a great sense of humor and an interesting take on how the Lord works. I will not soon forget his tongue-in-cheek lesson about staying where the Lord places us until He says otherwise.

“The Lord sends a man to a church and tells him to pastor those people.  But before long, the fellow gets antsy and when a larger church comes calling, he jumps at the chance to pastor in a city and he’s gone.  He stays there a couple of years and moves to another church. In the meantime, the Lord decides the time has come to move him to another assignment and comes looking.  But the man is not where the Lord put him.  He can’t find him.  Someone else is pastoring that church now. God asks, ‘Whatever happened to that fellow I put in this church?’ No one knows.”

When God gets ready to bless me, or to give me the next assignment, I want Him to be able to find me.

I’ll be right here, Lord, serving where You put me.

Prayerful. Obedient. Faithful. Believing.  Responsive.

 

 

 

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