“Shadows, Hidden Places”

 

    Rather than the “quiet desperation” believed by Thoreau to be the sensibility in which most people live, God offers quiet devotion to those who trust and submit to the Lord Jesus Christ.

     “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).

    We live most of our lives in context of the everyday responsibilities, necessities and pleasures that offer little fanfare, pomp or circumstance.  Finding and loving God there, in the quiet of the mundane, offers our greatest opportunity to discover His heart and His dynamic working in our lives.  “In quietness… shall be your strength.”

    The expectation of faith opens our eyes to this unobtrusive way of a Savior who lived more than 90% of His earthly life in obscurity.  “In confidence… shall be your strength.”  Expecting God along the well worn pathways of our lives makes it likely that we will discover His grace and truth in venues easily missed by those who look for Him in the wind, the earthquake and the fire rather than a still, small voice (I Kings 19:11-12).  Certainly, our Lord will part a Red Sea when necessary, or stop the sun in its tracks.  However, the norm of His involvement comprises displays of love that glimmer only for those with eyes to see that the Lord is at hand.

    Upon our arrival in Heaven, we shall doubtless behold glories of infinite majesty and magnitude.  The God whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain will overwhelm us: “His greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).  However, if the life of the Lord Jesus is any indication, we will also view a facet of God that will no less elicit enraptured wonder.  A complete lack of the ostentatious will whisper forth from a stillness of humility no less overwhelming than infinite greatness.  The quiet devotion to which our Heavenly Father calls believers speaks of this beauty to come, along with His present working in the shadows and hidden places of our lives.

"Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
(Matthew 11:28-30)

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not!”

(Genesis 28:16)