The Glory of God and the Searching Mind

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. (Proverbs 25:2)

Prov. 25:2; Job 5:8-9 and 11:7-9; Eccl. 3:11; Isa. 40:28; I Cor. 2:9, 10, 16

What Is God Saying?

Proverbs 25:2 shows an intentional contrast between God's and humankind’s glory. It is the glory of God that He created a universe that is always beyond the knowledge of humans. It is the glory of humans that we always move towards the limits of reason. When we reach the horizon of knowledge, there is still more. We seek to discover more; God is always beyond and is, therefore, to be worshipped. It's an exciting adventure. "The heavens for height and the earth for depth" (Prov. 25:3) is all ours to study, understand, appreciate, and enjoy.

How Does This Apply To Us?

We believe our minds are God-given, meant for the constant search for knowledge and understanding. We also believe that God is forever beyond us. "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable" (Ps. 145:3). We, therefore, need the Word of God used by the Spirit of God to lead us into all that we need to know concerning God for our soul's salvation and peace. Thank God, we can know all we need of God's love, power, and truth. "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me." Jesus said it. We believe it. We accept it.

Pray With Me

Lord, You teach me that I should never stop seeking. I am to push back the edges of darkness. "It is the glory of God to conceal things." Sometimes, I am bothered by the fact that my heart keeps asking questions that are not answered or answerable. Then comes a joyful discovery. Because my questions are not all answered and are not satisfied, I have proof of Your greatness. Help me to praise Your glory because of the great unknowables.

I thank You, too, for the gift of a searching mind. Even as a mountain climber keeps looking up to the heights, even as an astronomer looks deep into space, let my mind, which is God-given, be God-directed. Let me not be discouraged by the unanswerable beyond. Let me not be idle in my search for its elusive and beckoning mysteries. I rest in this—all questions have their final answer in Him whose hand formed the highest mountain; all questions are to be finally answered by Him whose hand flung out into space the farthest star; all questions are to be finally answered by Him who for time and eternity is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

In this truth, I will rest and live to the glory of God. Amen.

Moving On In The Life Of Prayer

There is a place for searching in our prayer life. "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7). Let us continue seeking. "Seeking prayer" is done through the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 2: 10), for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. Prayer asks in Jesus' name and receives for Jesus' sake. In prayer, we seek and find all we need to know and all that we can understand of God's gifts bestowed on us (I Cor 2:12).