O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. Psalm 38:9
“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. Job 23:8-10
Here we find a revelation about hiddenness. First, in Ps 38:9 we discover that the deep desires and disappointments of our life do not go unnoticed by God. He sees it all and takes it in hand. We are fully known and understood by God!
But our knowledge of God does not work the same way (Job 23:8-10). He is not an open book to us. We cannot trace his movements, and often his presence is mysterious. Yet he knows the way we take. Do you notice how God’s hiddenness is working for our benefit? Perhaps his “perceived absence” is part of the trial he is putting us through, but the trial is certainly not purposeless. The gold at the end tells us that. This requires faith. We do not see all but we know One who sees all…and works everything for his good purposes.