Creator, Father, King #133

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.

DO YOU STILL HAVE your swimsuit from yesterday? Hope so!

Today is a beautiful day for another plunge into the subject of God’s will. It’s a vast theological pool that’s as infinitely wide as it is deep. We could swim the length of it or dive the depth of it and never come close to reaching its limits. God is that far beyond our finite comprehension.

Yet he has graciously revealed much of himself to us through Holy Scripture, and for this, we should be eternally grateful. He certainly didn’t owe it to us.

In yesterday’s devotion, we discussed the three different aspects of God’s will—his decretive will, his preceptive will, and his will of disposition. As we study God’s will, there’s another facet we need to understand: God’s “revealed will” and “hidden will.”

Wow! you might be thinking. How many wills does God have?

Valid question. But remember: we are mere mortals trying to grasp his infinite greatness and describe it in human terms. So grab a life jacket, inner tube, buoy, water noodle—or whatever you need to stay afloat—and let’s keep swimming out into the wonderful waters of God’s will!

What’s It Mean?

When theologians talk about God’s “revealed will,” they are usually referring to his preceptive will—the moral precepts and commands that God has revealed to us in Scripture so we may always obey them (today’s verse).

However, as today’s verse also shows, there are “secret things” that God chooses not to reveal to us—his “hidden,” or secret, will. This is important to understand because it involves things in life that require great faith:

• life circumstances that don’t make sense to us
• trials we endure that seem illogical or unending
• specific details about the future, such as Jesus’ second coming, what heaven will be like, etc., that Scripture remains mostly vague—or silent—on

Sometimes, we find out God’s hidden will in retrospect, after something happens. Other times, we never learn it. Either way, we must bow before God’s sovereignty, humbly accept that there are many things in life that God decrees which we may never know about, and worship him.

Now What?

We are treading in deep theological waters here! Pray for spiritual understanding.

Did You Know?

There is nothing in God’s hidden will we have to fear because God is holy (Revelation 4:8) and he always deals righteously with his creation (Psalm 89:14).