09 Aug Hidden Treasure
Recently, our family was rocked by some very serious news that could have unhinged our faith. Isn’t that the way storms seem to come into our lives? Unexpectedly, without warning. We tend to think that if we had just known, we could have prepared ourselves. The reality is, the time to prepare for war is not when you are marching toward the battle line. The time to prepare is in the everyday-ness of life as we walk in the Spirit and listen to His voice.
On hearing the news, my pastor’s wife sent me an iPhone screen shot of her journal entry from January of this year. It was a Facebook post I had written the first of the year. She was graciously encouraging me, in this time of family crisis, with my own words. As I went back and re-read the post, I realized God had been preparing me…in the everyday-ness of my daily quiet time with Him.
Here’s what I wrote:
“A brand new year stretches out before me as I sit in the morning quiet. Like a game of Hide-and-Seek joyfully entered into by kids on a playground, there are delightful surprises to be discovered around the corner of each day, each month. He has hidden His treasures in the most unsuspecting places and waits patiently as we, seeking with expectancy, draw them out of their hiding places.
To be sure, some will come disguised as sorrow or disappointment, some as challenges that test my faith. Yet if I keep “seeking and asking,” I’m certain to find the treasure that is hidden in the darkness.
Reflection gives me a vantage point to “count my many blessings…count them one by one” that have come to me from my Father’s good hand. So many moments of
His grace
His mercy
His kindness
His forgiveness
His unrelenting love…
Too many to count really, from the simple to the sublime and everything in between.
“Full” is how I feel as I ponder and mull over 2015. And I have every confidence that when 2016 closes its doors, I will be even “fuller” because I will have come to know my Father in fresh, new ways.
I can almost hear Him now…
“…8, 9, 10…Ready or not, here I come!”
Six months ago, God was speaking to me:
He has hidden His treasures in the most unsuspecting places… some will come disguised as sorrow or disappointment, some as challenges that test my faith. Yet if I keep “seeking and asking,” I’m certain to find the treasure that is hidden in the darkness.
I am confident, that though the current situation may be difficult and even test my faith, we will discover the “treasures” that are hidden in the darkness. Because, as He promises in Psalm 66:12b:
We went through fire and flood,
But You brought us to a place of great abundance. (NLT)
God is good. That means that nothing comes to us that doesn’t first pass through His gracious, loving hand. He will allow each challenge to uncover another facet of His goodness that we may not have discovered any other way. He will reveal gems hidden in the trials.
Whatever you are facing, God has hidden treasures for you in the midst of the darkness. Keep your eyes fixed on Him, listen for His voice, and let Him speak to the deep places in your soul: Peace, be still. I am with you always. I have untold riches waiting for you to discover, even in the most unexpected places!
– Diane M. Fink
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