The Hidden Things

Deuteronomy 29:29 (HCSB)

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

There are hidden things, secret things, known only to God. We cannot know everything there is to know about God. Maybe there are some arrogant people out there who believe they can know. Common sense tells us that, if there is a God at all, He must be smarter than us; otherwise, how can He be God? God declared, “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9, HCSB).

We cannot know all there is to know, but we know enough. God has revealed to us everything He wants us to know. “But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it” (Deuteronomy 30:14). It is not hard to find God’s will—it is right here in His book, the Bible. He said, "This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach” (Deuteronomy 30:11). Not only can we know His will but we can do His will.

I am not one of those fatalists who believe that we have no choice in this matter—that every outcome is decided in advance by a sovereign God. I believe in the sovereignty of God! But I also believe that this sovereign God has given us the capacity of free will. “I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). God would not have said, “Choose” if we did not have that ability.

God said, “Here are your options… and here are the outcomes of those options… now choose.” There is a way in which everything is determined in advance. If we choose to obey God we will be blessed. If we choose not to obey God we will be cursed. But the choice is still ours.

God, of course, knows how what we will choose, and He has constructed His plan accordingly—but He has given us the dignity of choice. And God has not only allowed us to choose, but He also enables us to live by our choices.