Discover His heart: He reveals His secrets to us at just the right moment
When someone has a secret and is forbidden to share it, I, for one, would just as soon not know about it. Ignorance is bliss. I remember children on the playground chanting, “I know something you don’t know,” to torment those who plainly did not know the something. I would prefer that these individuals keep to themselves the fact that they have hidden information, but I guess there is a certain headiness that comes from others knowing that we have inside information.
Gloating may not be the intention when someone confesses to having secret information, but instead, it may be intended as a source of encouragement that plans are being made behind the scenes or things are under control even though we cannot see it. John revealed unbelievable end-time events in our reading today to encourage believers, but there were some things he just couldn’t share.
@ Revelation 10
“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered. When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.” (1-4)
It’s hard to imagine that John would have the ability to write anything while viewing an angel wearing a rainbow on his head with feet like pillars of fire and voice of seven thunders. I’m not sure I would have the presence of mind to write what I was hearing and would probably have been on my face; however, John made every attempt to do so but was stopped. Some have reasoned that the message of the seven thunders was too horrific to hear, and others believe that our minds would not be able to comprehend it. Regardless of the reason, John knew something we don’t know.
Other writers in the Bible were not allowed to share what God had revealed to them. “But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase… Go now, Daniel, for what I have said is kept secret and sealed until the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:4,9) God had revealed many secret dreams to Daniel that he was free to share, but this secret He would reveal at the end times when people would understand its meaning. God reveals His secrets at the perfect time.
In our personal lives there are answers we do not have and secrets God has not revealed to us, but of course, we want to know them now. Moses did a great job in Deuteronomy 29:29 instructing the Israelites who were entering a new land as to God’s secrecy, “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.” Our hearts and minds may not be in a position to know all that God has planned for us, but He will reveal His secrets at just the right moment. In the meantime, our job is to be accountable to what He has revealed to us through His Word and what He has already spoken to our hearts. All this should keep us busy for quite some time, and in due time He will reveal what He knows that we don’t know, and He will reveal it exactly when we need to know it.
Moving Forward: I will be faithful today to what I do know, confident that He will reveal what I don’t know at just the right moment.
Tomorrow @ Acts 23-25
Phyllis Benigas 