Hidden Reality and Divine Knowledge

The other day in my art class, a discussion arose about the infallibility of God’s Word and the timeline of Creation. I just sat back and listened, because what I have learned is that most people already have their minds set in these kinds of debates and don’t really want that to change. Plus I don’t usually argue scripture. My participation was more like rubbernecking an accident on the highway rather than actual involvement. But if I’d felt led to speak, I would’ve expressed my excitement of God solving the timeline reality for me. It is true that in seven days God created all of Creation, yet dinosaur bones are hidden in our earth from billions of years ago.

The Hidden Reality

Now, I completely believe in the infallibility of the Bible. It is one of God’s major miracles. To get even one man to write one book with exactly what God wanted to say would have been a major feat indeed, but the whole Bible? Did you ever play telephone as a kid? That’s further proof it was an amazing miracle of God. With 66 books written by at least 39 authors over a period of 1,500 years, the Bible is a major miracle of God’s divine orchestration and intervention.

Today I want to discuss the seven days of Creation to the millions-of-years ratio. The timeline in the Bible doesn’t, at first glance, appear to follow the scientific proof. My point in this post is not to convince you of the union of the Biblical reality to the scientific evidence, by the way. There are plenty of books written about that. What I want to share is my experience with this debate.

My Struggle with the Hidden Reality

I had a very hard time with this apparent contradiction. It was like a bee in my bonnet. I asked the Lord over and over to solve it for me. “Please Jesus, give me understanding or kill the quandary in me!” I waited and prayed, and then one day I heard a talk by Gerald Schroeder. By the end of his lecture my wrestling match was over. God had satisfied my heart and given me peace. It was an answer to my prayer. And while I am not trying to convince you this man is correct, for me it was God’s answer.

Schroeder’s lecture gave light and understanding to my Creation dilemma using a balloon. My heart was satisfied with the answer I had been given. Is it the total picture? Surely not! But for my part, God had put to rest my struggle with the topic. My takeaway is this: There were hidden parts in the reality that I didn’t have because there was more to the story than my finite mind could grasp. And guess what?! This is the way it is for each and every spiritual expansion we will ever have. It isn’t just the creation debate; it is every aspect of the spiritual life.

Think about it. Grace is a mystery until it has been made known. Christ in me, the hope of glory is hidden until the Spirit opens my eyes. Eternity is just a long time in the future until God enlightens my heart. The Kingdom come is merely pie in the sky until it becomes the burning reality of God in my heart. Living the Life of faith is foolishness until it is made alive in me. We are simply dependent on the Lord to reveal His mysteries. They are not logically acquired.

Seeing Hidden Reality

I’m writing here about the hidden parts we have to wait for the Father to give. I know what I know, but there’s so much more to know than what I know. Even my closest-held doctrines can explode beyond my bounds. God is GOD of everything, and I see only what He reveals. Martha and I often pray Jeremiah 33:3 – “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.” We want Him to show us things beyond our knowing so we can know more of Him and who He is.

I want to know beyond my knowing. I don’t want to limit God with my understandable bounds. My desire is to have my knowledge of Him expanded and exploded continually for all eternity. I don’t want to be satisfied or become stagnant. I want to know Him more tomorrow than I do today.

Thus says the Lord, “Let not the one who is wise and skillful boast in his insight; let not the one who is mighty and powerful boast in his strength; let not the one who is rich boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] abundance; but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me [and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt], that I am the Lord who practices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 AMP