The Secret Glory In Keeping A Secret

Proverbs 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of of kings." Have you ever had your private stuff put out in the court of public opinion, by a person who you thought you could trust? Have you ever been entrusted with initimate information by someone & just sharing a snippet of the information came back to bite you square in the quister? None of us share our personal stuff with people we KNOW we can't trust. We use the filter of believing (or not believing) a person can keep a secret before we divulge any information to them. Instead of focusing on the ppl who you do not trust, I want to help you to have a biblical understanding of why you should be the type of person others can trust. We have enough Christian paparazzi & Twitter/Facebook Stalkers who only want the "dirt." It is my prayer that you and I are the exception to the culture. In order to do this, I want to walk backwards in this Proverb to gain the understanding God is giving in this verse. The Glory of kings: "to search out a matter is the glory of kings." This Book of Wisdom (by the wisest man to live) informs us that kings who seek their own glory will snoop to get the scoop. It is the function & the intent of kings to get to the bottom of any and every "matter" whether it really matters, or not. You and I are kings (see the whole chosen generation/royal priesthood/king's kid thing for biblical validation if necessary) therefore we must rule as so. Like Adam, everyone of us have our own Garden of Eden to tend and make sure it is fruitful. There is a Divine right to rule you and I have that pushes us to have a relevant understanding of what's happening around us. Be careful though: Just because you have a Divine Mandate doesn't mean you have Divine Rights to dig into matters that are only meant for the Glory of THE KING! The Glory of God: "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;" Though you and I have been given a Divine right to rule our Garden, the Garden still belongs to The Lord. Psalm 24 says, "The Earth IS the Lords." I could go on and preach about what He possesses, but I'm tired so I will refrain. :) You and I must see ourselves as stewards, not owners. One day "The Owner" will return and see how well of a manager we have been with the people, places, and things He gave us to steward over. Since we are stewards, ALL that we do, All that we have, ALL that we are, and ALL that we know will be used as illustrations of how much Glory we wanted Him to receive verses how much we wanted for ourselves. A Matter: Next summer, I'm gonna preach a series entitled: The Matter. Here are my titles for the individual sermons in the series: What's the Matter A Matter of Life & Death Mind over Matter The Fact of the Matter Does it Matter? No Matter What Lets face it, things matter, but everything doesn't matter to you. And it's the things that do not matter to you that you HAVE to stay away from! It diminishes you and wastes your energy on things that just do not matter. Lets be clear, just because "a matter" doesn't matter to you, doesn't mean it shouldn't matter to anyone. You have to be wise enough to understand the difference. Who gets the Glory is revealed by what you do with "A Matter." There is a new term out today called FOMO. It means Fear Of Missing Out. The implication of a person with FOMO is that they are scared of missing out on matters of things that could possibly matter to them. It's easy to see when you constantly are checking your email, Twitter, Facebook accounts. It's easy to see FOMO when the first thing you grab every AM is your phone. Your ability to conceal or search out a matter reveals who's glory you are really after. Conceals A Matter: When you and I seek to bring Glory to God, we demonstrate the ability to "CONCEAL" what ppl who want their own glory, easily reveal. When you and I conceal a matter verses broadcasting it, we bring glory to God, not the matter. We do not reveal what's to remain concealed because of our Desire to please Him. This is tough because NOONE goes to a movie that doesn't have good drama and stays. Here's how things leak: Everyone has 2 close friends... You share something to one of your close friends that you trust, Then your close friends shares it with their other close friend in confidence. The issue is they have a second close friend, who they share it with In confidence. Then that person shares it with their close friend in confidence. And so it goes... When we bring Glory to God is when we learn to CONCEAL. Be bold enough to hold a matter, no matter what. Be courageous enough to admit to the person who has come to you to talk, that you struggle with keeping things concealed. Be secure enough to tell the person who is about to reveal a matter to keep it to their self. Let this filter be the gateway to what you talk about. When u CONCEAL a matter, you REVEAL THE GLORY OF GOD. When you REVEAL a matter, you CONCEAL THE GLORY OF GOD.(how's that for a tweet) Not only you, but use this filter by listening to the ppl who talk with you & you will easily find out who's glory they're after... Reveal His Glory. Hope I Helped, gw