Who Does God Confide In?
God confides in the one who fears Him. The one who cares. The one who fears displeasing or disappointing Him.
God confides in those who hunger to know the truth about the Father, the Son and the Spirit; the one whose heart is always leaning into that knowing.
In short, God looks for the hungry heart who looks for Him. The hungry heart doesn’t need to beg for God’s attention; his hunger is the south magnetic pole that irresistibly draws the north magnetic pole of the heart who calls Himself the Bread of Life.
God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
Psalms 53:2 (NIV)
God’s eyes search to and fro in the earth to discover those who thirst to understand Him; who want to know the truth of Him. He is most easily and truly found by those who do not come with an agenda to confirm, or a prejudice to reinforce.
God hides Himself from the arrogant one
Who is the arrogant one? The one who is confident that the question of God’s existence is his to answer. The arrogant one sees belief in God an an option among many, like what kind of career path to take. Or, having chosen to believe in God, the arrogant one decides what God is like and what is true, rather than humbling himself before God and asking God to reveal these things. The arrogant one is always in control of his or her “truth” about God.
God tends to stand aloof from the one who proclaims confidently what He is like, or who passes judgment on God’s actions or parses God’s Words (i.e., “Here’s what God really means”) — apart from any personal encounter with God. The one who has already made up his mind about God is not open to see or hear God when he comes near.
Instead, God seeks out the seeker who says, “I want to know you. Reveal yourself to me, please. Show me truth, Your truth. Give me eyes to see you and ears to hear you.”
He is drawn to the humble heart who comes with offerings in both hands: a confession of ignorance in one hand and a thirst for the real God in the other.
God doesn’t reveal Himself only to the spiritually mature, or the theologically perfect.
God confides in His little ones, His children. Even His newborn ones, those born into his family through the covenant blood of Jesus Christ. Why? Because that is how every loving parent brings His infant to know him. The communication begins when their shared life begins!
God is the perfect Father, the very one who defines fatherhood. The very best fathers are those who are generous with themselves, with their hearts, their love, their thoughts, their time and attention. The best fathers rejoice in giving who they are to their children.
In wisdom, fathers reveal themselves to their children in age-appropriate ways, revealing themselves in one way to the infant, another way to the eight-year-old, yet another to the teenager, and more mature ways to their adult child. But that revealing begins the day the child is born.
God especially confides in the one who has grown to love Him, who calls God “Friend” and “Father” as well as “Lord.”
The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.
Psalms 25:14 (NIV)
Just what does it mean that “God confides” in someone?
The answer is stunning. It means the same thing you think of where your best friend is concerned. Picture two souls sitting close together on a couch, pouring out their inmost thoughts and concerns to one another. Or think of a child snuggled close to a mother or father, presuming always upon the right to lean intimately into them, confident of their love and belonging there.
Don’t take my word for it — turn to your Bible. There are numerous “witnesses” to this truth in the Bible. One of the best examples is found in the poetry and prayers of David, the Shepherd King, who came to know God by no means other than his hungry heart and the help of the Lord’s Spirit as he tended his sheep in the pastures of Judea.
The fear of familiarity or presumption with God
One of the greatest stumbling blocks to believing in, perceiving and enjoying this intimacy with the Lord, is the fear of being too familiar with God. The fear of being too presumptuous with the Lord, of expecting Him to whisper personal things to your heart. I address this fear in Chapter Three of my book, They Will All Know Me. The following is an excerpt from this chapter titled “Who Am I To Personally Know God?”:
Balancing Intimacy and Fear of the Lord
In this book, I will be opening windows to my intimate life with the Lord; a life I believe all Christians can and should experience. I anticipate that if you are a serious Christian, you will be concerned about how intimacy with the Lord works with maintaining a proper fear of the Lord. It is an important question, and I think this is the best place to answer it.
The natural instinct of man has been to shrink back from being too familiar with the Lord as a way of showing proper fear and reverence. There is a right reverential fear of the Lord that we should never lose; but fear that causes us to back away from the intimacy God calls us to is inappropriate for His adopted son or daughter.
A right fear of the Lord is revealed by genuine concern about upholding His values and ways. Failing to do so is what God calls sin. David wrote in Psalm 36:1-2:
I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.
Psalm 36:1-2
The “wicked” (by God’s definition) are unconcerned about the Lord’s values, ways and judgments. They are so busy with their self-esteem program, needing to feel good about themselves, that they are not focused on the Lord in any real way. Guilt feels really uncomfortable, so they avoid the sensation of conviction at all costs. Living at a distance from God makes this easier.
The fact is that intimacy and fear of the Lord go hand-in-hand. When God’s child stays close to Him, awareness of what disappoints or offends Him grows keener; the desire to please Him grows deeper. These things reveal a true fear of the Lord. This doesn’t develop in us at a distance, but only as we live up close, knowing God as we can, and as He desires.
God also instructs those who haven’t been good.
We tend to think that the wickedness which most offends God is about the sins of the flesh, and that God won’t communicate with those who sin, who fail, who are weak. Yet the Bible says He communicates with us even in that state:
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way.
Psalm 25:8-9 (NASB)
In light of all these things, we cannot hide in the excuse — indeed, the lie — that God will not communicate with us.
The qualifications for being taught by God (1) being hungry and (2) being humble enough to know you don’t know God, and can’t know Him, without His help.
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