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We need to realize the hidden nature of God's working; we should not think that only mighty influences, great visions, and tremendous revelations are of God; God's surest work is done in the secret of our beings:
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The more we serve the Lord, and the more we abide in Him, the more we realize that God is a very quiet God, so quiet that His presence is often undetected.
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His most intimate way of guiding us is so natural that we scarcely perceive He is guiding us at all, yet somehow we have been led; it is often by this quiet inward activity of God that we receive our greatest guidances.
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When the only begotten Son came for the purpose of declaring God, He hid Him in a human life—a human life whose appearance was “marred,” a human life that had “no attracting form nor majesty” (Isa. 52:14; 53:2):
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He came from Galilee, an insignificant province, and from the town of Nazareth, a small town of which it was said by the Jews that no prophet or person of repute ever came from there (John 1:46; 7:52).
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Thus, when He appeared, people found it hard to believe that God was present in Him—they found it hard even to believe that He was a prophet of God, yet God was hidden within Jesus of Nazareth (cf. Col. 2:9).
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Also, Jesus of Nazareth belonged to a poor home and grew up to be a carpenter— a very ordinary carpenter, working in a very small way, until He was thirty; who would have ever thought that He was indwelt by the infinite God?
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If you study the Scriptures carefully, you will see that God has the kind of temperament that dislikes ostentation; He likes to work secretly rather than openly (Matt. 17:1-9; John 20:14-17; Luke 24:13-37; John 20:24-29; Isa. 39:2-8):
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“Whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory”; it is a wonder and a mystery that the believers love One whom they have not seen (1 Pet. 1:8).
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Since the resurrection of the Lord, the chief discipline for His followers has come along the line of knowing Him as a God who hides Himself.
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Everything of God's economy with Christ as its centrality and universality is not in the seen realm but in the unseen atmosphere and realm of faith (2 Cor. 4:13, 16-18; 5:7; Heb. 11:1; Eph. 3:17a; 1 Tim. 1:4b).
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When we are most conscious of impotence, God is most powerfully present (2 Cor. 12:9-10):
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The God who hides Himself is at work within our lives, and He is working mightily.
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Our responsibility is to cooperate with Him by responding to His voice within—that “gentle, quiet voice,” that voice that seems so much a part of our own feelings that we scarcely recognize it as a voice at all.
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To that voice, registered in the deepest depths of our being, we must say Amen, for there, secretly and ceaselessly, the God who hides Himself is working.
Morning Nourishment
1 Pet. 1:8 Whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.Col. 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
[May] God's children...realize the hidden nature of His working. Do not think that only mighty influences, great visions, and tremendous revelations are of Him. God's surest work is done in the secret of our beings. Often it is just a slight whisper or a slight influence—so slight we can scarcely distinguish it from our own impressions. This is God's mightiest mode of activity. Sometimes from our innermost being comes a faint suggestion (or shall I call it a feeling, a voice, or words?) saying something like this: “That is your natural life; that belongs to the cross”—saying it in words that are scarcely words. But do please take note: these almost indefinable words are indications of God's most positive activity. You may reason: This is not God; it is just me. But let me assure you, this is His most definite speaking and working. It is such divine activity that has preserved the church throughout her history of nearly two thousand years. The more we serve the Lord and the more we abide in Him, the more we realize that God is a very quiet God, so quiet that His presence is often undetected. His most intimate way of guiding us is so natural that we scarcely perceive He is guiding us at all, yet somehow we have been led; something has happened. It is often by this quiet, inward activity of God that we receive our greatest guidances. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 4-5)
Today's Reading
[When the] only begotten Son came for the very purpose of showing forth the Father, He hid Him in a human life—a human life whose “visage was marred,” a human life that had “no attracting form nor majesty” (Isa. 52:14; 53:2). And He came from Galilee, an insignificant province, and from the town of Nazareth, a small town of which it was said by the Jews that no prophet or person of repute ever came from there (John 1:46; 7:52). So when He appeared, people not only found it hard to believe that God was present in Him—they found it hard even to believe that He was a prophet of God. Yet God was hidden within Jesus of Nazareth.This man belonged to a poor home and grew up to be a carpenter—a very ordinary carpenter, working in a very small way, until He was thirty. Whoever would have thought that He was indwelt by God, the infinite God?
If you study the Scriptures carefully, you will see that God has the kind of temperament that dislikes ostentation. He likes to work secretly rather than openly. He created the universe and then hid Himself in it, until we do not know where to find Him.
[May we] all realize that, since the resurrection of our Lord, the chief discipline for His followers has come along the line of knowing Him as a God who hides Himself. He is in the midst of men yet does not show Himself to men; He dwells within yet withholds the consciousness of His indwelling.
By the time [Peter] wrote his first Epistle,...he could say, “Whom having not seen, you love” (1:8). That is a marvelous thing. Where would you find a man who could love a fellow man he had never seen?...Faith and love are in an unseen One.
When we are most conscious of impotence, God is often most powerfully present....Do not set your expectation on some great vision or on some great experience. And do not expect anything outward, for the God who hides Himself is at work within your life, and He is working mightily. Your responsibility is to cooperate with Him by responding to His voice within—that “gentle, quiet voice,” that voice that seems so much a part of your own feelings that you scarcely recognize it as a voice at all. To that voice, registered in the deepest depths of your being, you must say Amen, for there, secretly and ceaselessly, the God who hides Himself is working. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 5-6, 9-11)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself”