The Glory Now RevealedSample

Day Four: Hidden Treasures

The daily actions of God are immeasurable: answering the prayers of a child, protecting persecuted house church leaders, convicting Christians of secret sin, preparing the tribal leader of an unreached people group to come to Christ, orchestrating the initial meeting of a man and woman who will someday be married. 

The sovereign salvation plan of God was crafted before the foundation of the world, bought at infinite cost by the blood of his Son, and applied by the Holy Spirit to individuals in every generation and in every corner of the world. Every day, that plan generates unique treasures. But most details of that plan are hidden from human view, forgotten by succeeding generations, lost through the death of eyewitnesses, and buried under the rise and rubble of nations. God is temporarily deprived of the glory he deserves for both his mighty and minute deeds. 

The vast majority of God’s glorious deeds in history were performed in the obscure lives of people the world would consider unremarkable—“not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth” (1 Corinthians 1:26). These ranks of the redeemed received amazing grace poured on them, and their stories are well worth learning to the glory of God.

Yet not only are those stories lost to posterity but the full dimensions of God’s activities in saving their souls were often veiled from them as well. They never fully realized how God orchestrated providential occurrences in space and time to bring them to faith in Christ and to help them grow in grace after that. But why should God be robbed of his glory by having those works hidden forever, lost in the dust of the past? 

Increased heavenly understanding of earthly history will in turn increase our heavenly joy. This eternal education in history will be glorious! We will be so free from selfish concerns for our reputations that we will finally see God at the glorious center of it all—the Redeemer, Protector, Warrior, Ruler, Healer, Feeder, Author, Perfecter—in a word, the Savior worthy of all praise. 

Lord, thank you for loving us so much that you are involved in our daily lives, our circumstances both large and small. Help me to see even now your hand at work—just a glimpse of what I will see fully in heaven. Amen.