A GOD THAT HIDES HIMSELF THE DIVINE MANNER Prior to the day of salvation, the Lord revealed His manner is to test the hearts of people. Before Moses died and was buried by God Himself, He told the people: "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD" (Deut 8:2-3). -- Tomorrow:
"Truly, Thou art a God Who hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior" -- Isaiah 45:15
Some have assumed from this text that God does not really know everything. That, they reason, is why He tested Israel in the wilderness, so He could find out what was really in their hearts. That, of course, is very foolish thinking. If the Word of God is "a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb 4:12), you may be sure the One who spoke that Word is fully aware of them. David had no trouble understanding this: "Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off' (Psa 139:2). It is not good that someone living in the superior light of Jesus Christ would not know this. Even in the humbled state of the flesh, the Lord Jesus "knew what was in man" (John 2:25).
There are at least three things accomplished by the trials of Israel. First, THEY found out what was in themselves. In the wilderness testing, when God was not as apparent to them as they would have liked, things erupted from them confirming they were, by nature, no better than the Egyptians from whom they were delivered.
Second, succeeding generations were given an excellent lesson concerning the nature of man, who "drinks iniquity like water" (Job 15:16). The testimony of Jeremiah is confirmed in Israel, who experienced miraculous deliverance, bread, water, health, and guidance: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer 17:9).
Third, angelic hosts, themselves spectators of the human drama, saw that man cannot be changed by external deliverances or provisions. Man's environment does not change his nature. How remarkable for the heavenly ministers to compare the effects of hardship upon those who are in Christ Jesus, and live by faith. Surely they often praise God for the superiority of His work through Christ Jesus the Lord.
The circumstance that makes a test a "test" is the inability to see God clearly in the matter -- when He hides Himself. There are times when God is clearly seen, as when David faces Goliath or Paul is shipwrecked on Melita. There are other times, however, when the hand of the Lord is not clearly seen, and the future has not been revealed. In such times, faith will constrain the one possessing it to call upon the name of the Lord.
God is not apt to "hide Himself" from the individual who is fervently seeking His face. What is more, He is glorified by such requests, for they reveal a high degree of spiritual understanding.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I know I will be tested. I also know You will not test me above my ability, always providing a way to escape becoming involved in sin. I thank You through Jesus Christ for this perception, and ask You for grace to honor Your name in the midst of my trials.