Edited by Jim McCrory, Monday 6 October 2025 at 08:21
The Test of Hiddenness
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings” Proverbs 25:2 tells us. The world is arranged in such a way that we are never given certainty, only possibility. God is present enough to be found but hidden enough to be ignored.
As Blaise Pascal noted, there is light enough for those who wish to see and darkness enough for those who prefer to turn away. This is no accident; it is the wisdom of a God who does not coerce belief but invites it. We live our lives as if unobserved, like children playing in the street, unaware that eyes are upon them. It is in this unguarded state that our real selves are revealed, not the selves we perform under scrutiny, but what we are when we believe no one is watching.
In that space, our choices speak for us. Do we search for what is hidden, or do we walk past it, uninterested? God’s concealment, then, is not a withdrawal but a test of love and longing. It is a way of discovering who we truly are, not by what we know, but by what we seek.
“God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”Acts 17:27 (BSB).
The Test of Hiddenness
The Test of Hiddenness
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings” Proverbs 25:2 tells us. The world is arranged in such a way that we are never given certainty, only possibility. God is present enough to be found but hidden enough to be ignored.
As Blaise Pascal noted, there is light enough for those who wish to see and darkness enough for those who prefer to turn away. This is no accident; it is the wisdom of a God who does not coerce belief but invites it. We live our lives as if unobserved, like children playing in the street, unaware that eyes are upon them. It is in this unguarded state that our real selves are revealed, not the selves we perform under scrutiny, but what we are when we believe no one is watching.
In that space, our choices speak for us. Do we search for what is hidden, or do we walk past it, uninterested? God’s concealment, then, is not a withdrawal but a test of love and longing. It is a way of discovering who we truly are, not by what we know, but by what we seek.
“God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” Acts 17:27 (BSB).
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