HIDDEN SAINTS—HOW MANY THERE ARE! Not insignificant nor reluctant, just unknown to us. If we could see as our Father sees, I'm convinced we would be amazed at the size of His family. If the spiritual iceberg were suddenly turned upside down and exposed for all to view, the magnitude of the church He is building would literally take our breath away.
Isaac Watts caught a mental glimpse of such a scene after he had meditated on Psalm 72. He recorded his thoughts:
From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at His feet;
While western empires own their Lord,
And savage tribes attend His word. . . .
People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song,
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His name.
How shortsighted we are . . . how restricted in our vision . . . how ignorant and unaware of the full scope, the whole story! Our God has planted His people all over this globe. The bamboo curtain, the prosperity curtain, the poverty curtain notwithstanding. He has His prepared and appointed instruments—hidden saints emerging from the woodwork and etching their mark upon humanity. Many have already gone on to be with God.
Others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. . . . They were too good for this world.
My point is a simple one: we are not alone. We are in the company of remarkable people of courageous faith who for the most part live out their days in obscurity, trusting God for their ultimate reward. Invisible to all but never to God.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased at tyndale.com or wherever books are sold.
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
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