Wisdom in Hiding

1 Corinthians 2:7
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory…”

You don’t have to watch a drama very long or read too far into a book before you find what is hidden being revealed. The Bible often talks about truths that are hidden because of unbelief.

A scientist was recently studying insect-eating birds in an oak tree that was in bloom. He was surrounded by male flowers called catkins. Suddenly, one of the catkins began walking away. The surprise that he had discovered was a species of caterpillar that feeds on catkins and ends up looking just like a catkin – even having fake pollen sacks. In this way, it escapes the notice of feeding birds.

The scientist then found that the members of this caterpillar species that hatch in early spring and feed on catkins end up looking like catkins. But members of the same species that hatch later and feed in oak trees end up looking like oak twigs. This observation was a complete surprise because it means that it is the caterpillars’ diet that causes the difference in appearance.

When things are hidden, reality is always different than we expect. While the Gospel is clear, Scripture often mentions that unbelief causes the clear to be hidden to the unbeliever. It is helpful for us to understand this as we see the popularity of belief in evolution and a world without God.

Prayer:
Dear Father, I thank You that Your Word is clear. Remove all unbelief from me so that I may see Your truth more clearly. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
I. Wickelgren. “Caterpillar Disguise: You Are What You Eat.” Science News, v. 135, p. 70. Photo: Catkins on an oak tree. Courtesy of Joel Abroad. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.