Happy New Year! As we enter into a new year together let's reflect upon Deut 29:29, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."
The details of the coming year belong to the LORD our God. When we worry and fret inwardly and share those worries and frets with others, we are attempting to steal the LORD'S belongings. This is His universe. You are His creation. You, and the details of your life, exist for His glory. Worrying and fretting reveals that we are not committed to the LORD being Lord of our lives. The more we attempt to be in control of that which only the LORD can control, the more frustrated, irritated and anxious we will be.
The sin of worrisome, anxiety filled living is a pattern of life for many professing Christians. Yes, I said "sin." Fearful fretting, fussing and fuming over "the secret things [that] belong to the LORD" is sin. By God's grace, commit with me to leave the secret things with the LORD and to embrace each day with true faith. Worry is anti-faith, and faith is the antidote to worry. As we grow in the Lord, we become calm and steady in the reality that God is in charge of the secret things. The disquieted, discontented, rebellious heart is trained to rest in the reality that God works all of His secret things for our good, according to a plan of eternal breadth and infinite, loving wisdom. We tend to live in the finite, both in time and wisdom. This lends itself to useless grasping for fools gold when the everlasting gold of heaven awaits those who faithfully store it up there.
Let's consider exactly what secret things belong to the LORD by starting closest to our hearts and working outward. Our health belongs to the LORD. The heart that beats within your chest, beats or ceases to beat according the LORD'S secret will. The lungs that fill your blood stream with oxygen, inhale and exhale at the LORD'S bidding. The white blood cells that fight disease and infection in your body, fight according to the LORD'S providence. The synapses of your brain fire correctly as the LORD allows. These are all His belongings.
The people in your life are gifts from God. You do not own your loved ones or their affection. You have no right to their relationship or presence in your life. The joy that human relationships bring is a gift of God. His hand gives and at times His hand takes away. We dare not covet eternal relationships in this temporary world. If we make that sinful mistake we will grow evermore disappointed and depressed. We need to be Biblically disillusioned with this temporary world. Freedom from the temptation to think that which is passing away is here to stay, will allow us to focus on the permanent. God Himself is permanent, unchanging and all glorious. The new heavens and new earth will be permanent. The souls of all those who are in Christ will be with God, in heaven, forever, permanently enjoying Him and one another. People are the most important and only permanent thing in this world. They alone will last forever. If you labor for their souls you are wise. If we make God, heaven, and seeing souls saved and headed to heaven our focus, we will know the joy of our LORD.
The riches you possess are the gift of God. It's all His. Every house, every car, every bank account, every retirement account, every stock and bond all belong to the LORD. A close friend of mine learned this lesson a few years back when all of his careful planning, saving and investing fell to pieces in one great stock crash. This Christian man gave generously to the church and the needs of the poor, and yet in the LORD'S perfect plan the stock crashed and my friend had to say, "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the LORD." What you have today, you may not have tomorrow. When you lose the treasures of this world and respond in faith, you gain the riches of heaven. When you gain the treasures of this world and use them with faith for the glory of God and the blessing of others, you gain the riches of heaven. When you never know the treasures of this world and live with contented faith, you store up treasure in heaven. When you never know the 'great' treasures of this world and are jealous, covetous and embittered, you tarnish your claim to heaven and fail to store any lasting treasure there. We dare not attempt to pick the pocket of God, or to rob heaven's bank of the LORD'S eternal decrees by discontented, covetous living.
This is the short list of the LORD'S secret belongings. If we learn to prayerfully leave these heart grippers (our health, loved ones, & treasures) in the LORD'S charge, the multitude of minor secret things will follow. By no means do we then neglect proper diet, exercise and an occasional checkup. By no means do we callously ignore the loss of loved ones. By no means do we falter in our work ethic, responsible spending and careful saving. But we will not faithlessly fret and worry over that which belongs to the secret and good providence of God, because "the secret things belong to the LORD our God."
The happiness of your "Happy New Year" depends entirely on your level of abiding faith in the LORD to care for the secret things of tomorrow. Do not allow your happiness to be dependent on circumstances that will come and go. Make your happiness dependent on the LORD'S certainties, not the world's circumstances. We will consider the second half of Deut. 29:29 in our next blog.
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