Hidden Treasures

I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, 

the Lord,

Who call you by your name,

Am the God of Israel.

Isaiah 45:3

My newly grown children balance on the cusp of the rest of their lives.  It's so hard to have no answers for them.  They stare alone into a future blurred by endless choices and narrowing prospects.  They long for concrete decisions and an iron clad contract.  They struggle to deal with the reality that they can barely glimpse past the next season.

I remember that terror of being just out of school.  I remember nights of wondering where I was going from here, of questioning how could they give me a diploma?, I don't know anything.  

If we're honest, it's really no different later in life.  We're just better at pretending we know what we're doing. We set long term goals, open retirement accounts, and plan our careers as if we're really in control of any of it.    

Yet, the greatest treasures rarely come from the plans I make and the goals I set.

The greatest treasures are hidden in the mists of unknown,  in the darkness of the future, in the secret places of the future I could never have imagined.  I never could have dreamed of the places I've been, could never have planned out the life I've had.  Those unexpected blessings, the joys of the unimagined gifts of God; that's where we learn to really look to Him, and acknowledge His hand on our lives.