Playing hide-and-seek

A real friend is someone who
drives you to the airport at a ghastly hour, stacks your baggage
onto a trolley, and drives briskly away.

No prolonged goodbyes. No annoying
small-talk. Just sheer usefulness. So that you – or, in our
case, we – can enjoy that wonderful detached feeling that
always works like magic in airports.

They’re a
no-man’s-land. ‘The Wood between the
Worlds’ if you’re a C S Lewis fan. A door to
everywhere and anywhere. Your senses sharpen, nostrils quiver. Be
gone, dull care; good morrow, adventure.

Why?

Because – for believers
– once we move out of the safe and familiar ruts and
routine, faith kicks in and we start to trust God for all kinds
of stuff. For lost baggage and happy landings, plus a generous
helping of Thy will be done along the way.

With the real possibility of
miracles and guidance and all the neat stuff that persists in
spilling out of those dog-eared Bible pages despite all our
sophistication and rationalisation and familiarity.

And – let’s face it
– the Holy Spirit has tucked no end of goodies into the
blockbuster we call scripture. No, we’re not just talking
about the gospel. Yes, that’s terrific, and always will be.
But this article is just a little nudge to remind you
there’s more.

And it’s not always
in-yer-face.

You’ll have to do your own
investigation on this one, because it’s simply too vast a
subject. But – in a nutshell – God hides
things. Deliberately. To see how you react.

Some folk get born again, collect
their guarantee against hell fire, and settle firmly for that and
no more, thank you kindly. Okay. Great. But if you have
occasional outbreaks of bi-pedal-it-is (a.k.a itchy feet –
the spiritual version) take courage: there’s buried
treasure out there. Tailor-made for you, if you’ll forgive
the mixed metaphor.

Take, for instance, the little
nudge in Proverbs 25:2 – ‘It’s the glory of God
to conceal a thing, but the honour of kings is to search out a
matter’. Sounds almost like a game, doesn’t it?
Exactly so. And like most sports, serious and exciting at the
same time.

Don’t be put off by the
‘king’ bit, either. We’re royalty, no less. But
if it worries you, try this one. Luke 10:21 –
‘You’ve hidden these things from the wise and prudent
and revealed them to babes’. And why do you think the Lord
says seek the Kingdom of God?

God rewards persistence,
that’s why.

It’s nothing to do with
intelligence (whatever that is), or education (whatever
that is), or being born into the right family (whoever
they might be). Not many wise, not many mighty, not many... like
the Good Book says.

And God’s secrets
aren’t for us to get all boastful about. They’re
simply for us to understand how the spiritual life works. If we
give a damn.

Some people don’t. So the
anonymous writer of Hebrews says ‘let us go on – if
God permits us to’. God, in other words, doesn’t
chuck pearls around.

But at this end of the Age,
it’s not a bad idea to get a handle on what the Lord Jesus
is planning. He’s preparing folk here and there just as he
has always done.

And – this is why this
article is shorter than usual. That’s why we started off by
burbling about airports and travel. You see: we’re going
back to Fiji again. Which part? Vanua Levu this time. Somewhere
so deep in the interior that the pastor who will take us
can’t get in touch. He and we will just have to arrive.

No problems, though. From what we
already know of Fijian believers, they’ve an eagerness to
learn, learn, learn. The rest is up to God and the power of His
Spirit.

We’re not being humble
– just realistic – when we say that we are far from
suited to the job. But hey – that’s slightly
comforting. Not only does He get the glory, but He gives the
strength and the direction.

And we get to see Him at work,
close up.