“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) This verse has always fascinated me. God must be so amused by how much we think we know about – everything. We know so much and yet so little about the human body, life in the ocean, the expanse of space. We think we know about Him. And yet He has the amazing promise that He would show us treasures and riches that have been hidden just so He could reveal them to us.

God is far more giving and generous than we know, yet the Puritan ethic is that we should not ask anything for ourselves. It is somehow selfish to want to be blessed. I don’t think God sees it that way. I think He wants to bless our socks off. Yes, James does warn us, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:3) It can’t be denied that selfishness can get in the way when what we want means more to us than God Himself.

However, when our priorities are straight, when we love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind (Matthew 22:37), our loving Papa God says, “Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.” (Psalm 2:8) He wants to bless us. He’s waiting for us to come to Him as loving sons and daughters so He can pour out blessing that only He can provide. But until He can trust us with the treasure, He will wait until we are ready. We must have a generous soul, a heart of humility, a willingness to be corrected. He won’t trust His treasure to babies. He is looking for maturity and faith to trust Him completely in hard times. He is looking for our love and praise that spills from us like a delighted lover. That one can be blessed with the treasures of heaven.

I wonder about these treasures. Knowing that God is magnificently awesome, His treasures will be mind blowing and I want to see them. So I press in. I want to know Him more. I want to hear His voice and see His face. I want every blessing that belongs to me because it shows me how stunning Papa God is. It makes me so excited I could dance.