June 28

You might search all over the field and still not discover the treasure hidden there. The only way we can "know the things that are freely given to us of God" is by God's Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12). He lives in God's ordinances as a governor works in his graces-- evidences for heaven-- sealed to our consciences.

Go to God's Spirit and wait. The fact that you are at the right door is comforting in itself. Even if you knock for a long time but do not hear anyone coming, you should not feel ashamed. Eglon's servants waited for a dead man (Judges 3:25), but you are waiting for the living God, who hears from heaven every knock you have ever given on earth. He is a loving God who hears your prayers and sees your tears. And even if He seems like a stranger, as Joseph appeared to his brothers, He is so big with mercy that He will soon fall on your neck and ease His heart by acknowledging and accepting you, and His grace in you.

Lift up your head, then-- but remember, you cannot set times for God Almighty. The sun rises at its own hour, no matter what time you decide it should come up. Sometimes God comes to you in an ordinance and His heavenly light radiates into your innermost being while He quickens His Word to you. But have you not spent other nights on your face wrestling with God, wondering why He did not satisfy your soul? When someone brings a candle into the dark room we stir around and look for the thing we have lost and soon find what we had groped for in the darkness for hours. We can gauge more of our spiritual condition in a moment of His revelation than in days or weeks of His withdrawal.

Carefully watch for the seasons when God comes to you; take advantage of them. But even if God chooses to hide the treasure from your sight, comfort yourself. He knows your sincerity is real whether you can see it or not.

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