O my soul,

Why are there secrets?

I don’t mean the kind of secrets those lacking in credibility or legitimacy in leadership use to wield power over others. No, albeit grievous, that is straightforward to understand, just as Jesus said.

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

― John 3:19-21

Do not worry about those.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

― 2 Corinthians 5:10

No, I mean these:

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

― Deuteronomy 29:29

The secret things belong to the Lord our God. Why are there such things that are secret? And why is it that so many of the most important things we would like to know seem to fall into this category, especially answers to those most desperate questions of Why? and How long?

And isn’t this at odds with what Jesus said?

“You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

― John 15:14-15

All that Jesus has heard from our Heavenly Father he has made known. We must pause here, for isn’t this completely overwhelming in its relational depth? He has called you friend. He has called me friend. The very Son of God who died at Calvary to rescue and redeem the whole world, the Word of Life through whom the universe was made and who sustains it through each moment by his powerful word, this one calls you and me both friend.

Spend a few moments here to savour that intimacy in relationship. In our craving to know things, perhaps we have overlooked our wonderful Saviour whom we can know, who has made himself known. For Jesus said,

“And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

― John 14:4-7

Not only can we know our wonderful Saviour, but we can know the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Again, listen to Jesus.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

― John 14:15-17

And not only this, but we can also know that we are in Jesus, for he said exactly that.

“Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

― John 14:19-20

Isn’t the truth that so much has been made known that we are in danger of being overwhelmed by it all? For that is absolutely how we should be feeling!

But what of those secret things which belong to the Lord our God? Here’s one, for example, about that glorious day on which Jesus will come again.

“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”

― Mark 13:24-27_

Isn’t this in truth what we long for most?

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

― Revelation 21:1-4

When will this be, this most eagerly anticipated day of them all? Jesus says this.

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

― Mark 13:32

Jesus himself does not know it! This is surely one of the most secret things of them all.

And there’s insight to be gained here over those lesser secrets⸺those matters which so profoundly affect our own lives. O my soul, as you wait on the Lord for his good and faithful promise to be fulfilled, not knowing when or why or how but choosing to surrender to his wisdom and his sovereignty, notice what we do know about that day when Jesus will return, coming on the clouds with great power and glory. It will be the very best day of any of our lives, when all that has been so long awaited will be fulfilled by the one whose name is Faithful and True.

And so it is for all those other secret things. Do not doubt the goodness of the one who holds back on Why? or How long? or even How? But simply trust, and wait with eager anticipation and full assurance for that lesser day which will surely come before that greatest of days.

O my soul, do not crave to know the secret things which belong to the Lord our God, but trust him on those, and rejoice in these wonderful things which have been revealed which belong to you! 🙏