With the information explosion, it appears we are developing a sense of entitlement to all and every information available. We have become suspicious of people, especially the government, who seem to have hidden information. And we demand “full disclosure.” The recently concluded presidential campaigns were characterized by much “exposure” of unsavory or unethical behavior by the primary candidates. And the public demanded more. If it is not given, we turn to WikiLeaks. Julian Assange is our hero.
Why do we want to know everything? Maybe for self-preservation. Perhaps it makes us feel important. Possibly it provides a sense of control over circumstances that surround us. We convince ourselves that if nothing is hidden from us, then we are empowered to do anything we want. “Knowledge is power,” we say.
But when we begin to absolutize such thinking, that’s when we come dangerously close to considering ourselves gods. We need to be reminded: “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” (Deuteronomy 29.29 HCSB).
Inasmuch as there is a lot to be known, absolute knowledge belongs to God alone. There simply is so much information that the human brain does not have the capacity to contain or handle. And it is to our own wellbeing that we do not insist on things that are not ours to know. We would do well to join the psalmist when he prayed, “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me” (Psalm 131.1 ESV). Leave in God’s hand what belongs to God.
Yet, the Lord does intend for his people to be partners with him in his mission. He also chooses to reveal things to his own people, things that we can handle and that are for our own good. “The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant” (Psalm 25.14 ESV). What he reveals “belong to us,” his friends, and it is up to us whether or not we will accomplish the purpose for which he has revealed them. We are responsible for the things that God has revealed: “to follow” and to pass on “to our children.”
When we enter into a covenant relationship with God, we acknowledge that he is the good and loving Father who is looking out for our best interests. We choose to trust him with the things hidden. We also choose to celebrate and to act on the things revealed.
—Keith Y. Jainga