Safely Hidden

It’s a joke in our house—I’m just not good at surprising my wife. Once, I bought Peggy a bracelet for Christmas and hid it where I knew she wouldn’t find it. The secret would have been safe, too, except for the fact I was so pleased with my hiding place that, one day, I went to admire it ... and Peggy found me there. Years later, we still laugh about it. The legend lives on. 

Fortunately for the human race, God is better at hiding things than I am. In the Biblical context, a mystery is something knowable only by the one who initiates it and those to whom he chooses to reveal it. And before time began, God hid one mystery, in particular, in the safest place in the universe—He hid it in Himself, undiscoverable until the time of His choosing.¹ When something is hidden in God, it’s hidden. What then could possibly be so important to God that He would keep it so secure? We are. For the mystery He eventually revealed was this: Jesus Christ living in us,² freeing, saving and uniting forever all who would receive Him through faith.³

But why such secrecy? Why such drama? Again, it was for our own good and for God’s, for Paul tells us that if “the rulers of this age”—the spiritual powers of darkness—had understood the mystery of Christ in us, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”⁴ But for the hiding, the justice of God and the mercy of God would not have reconciled at the cross, and we would still be in our sin, separated forever from a holy God. As it is, however, “we may approach God with freedom and confidence,”⁵ for in Him and because of his wisdom, we are forgiven, reconciled, loved.

And in Him, we are eternally secure. How do we know? We have been “raised with Christ,” writes Paul, and our life is now “hidden with Christ in God.”⁶ And when something is hidden in God, it’s hidden.

Father, your wisdom is unsearchable, your power unsurpassable and your love immeasurable. I trust you. Send me and use me today in the complete confidence that, no matter what happens, I am safely and securely hidden in you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Christ in me is confidence.

¹ Ephesians 3:9
² Colossians 1:27
³ Ephesians 3:5, 6
⁴ 1 Corinthians 2:8
⁵ Ephesians 3:12
⁶ Colossians 3:3