Obadiah 1:6

How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up.

It’s that time of year when seemingly decently struck balls find themselves hid under the foliage of the season. You can look for hours, yet are unable to turn over the one leaf which hides that valuable Pro-V. Leaves hide balls like nothing else because of the shear number of them and their ability to camouflage the entire ground.

We live our lives with such confidence by feeling as if we can hide dependencies from our friends, family and even God. We try and use our earthly wisdom to prevent any chance of detection. We have secure passwords and metal safes which keep our valuables hidden from the world. We also depend upon alliances to keep our secrets from others. We feel better when someone is entrusted with our dark secret in the hopes he or she will approve. Further, we have confidence in natural barriers which give us security and peace of mind. No one would suspect a deacon or Sunday School teacher to have such desires or dependencies. Therefore, we feel we must be in the clear and live accordingly.

Interestingly, the prophet Odadiah focused his warnings toward the Edomites and not Israel. These people were the descendants of Esau. The Edomites prided and exalted themselves because of their intelligence, alliances, and mountainous natural defense.

Obadiah prophesied about a coming judgment unimaginable to the people of Edom. He warned in verse five that this judgment would be unlike the robber who comes into a house and stops taking things once he had enough. This reckoning would gather all of the hidden persons and their devices. The Edomites hid much of their valuables in the rocky terrain. Additionally, the allies who were supposedly close to them will turn against this people. The misplaced dependence will ultimately be the source of much loss.

We serve an all knowing and righteous Savior. He commands our utmost obedience without the stash and dependence from our previous life. We are unable to give our Lord our best when we place any reliance on anything hidden. Nothing can hidden from our God. Just as with the Edomites, the hidden is the first things revealed when judgment falls.

If we have the need to hide something from our friends and family, the personal alerts should alarm us that such device is harmful. We are promised in Numbers 32:23 that if ” ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” The secret aspects of our life are the things we hold back in the assumption we need them to survive either physically or spiritually. Thus, we are cannot be totally “souled out” unto our Lord when we have these dependencies.

God would rather us have the realization of this fault than bring it to our attention in judgment. We need to pray regularly for God to reveal any of these dependencies to our attention so that we can eliminate and destroy them from our life. It is relatively easy to hide these aspects from the world. Our Lord desires us to live a life in which we feel no need to have anything hidden from Him or place any reliance upon ourselves or any other person. I pray we grow stronger in Christ and place our physical and spiritual dependence in His power and guidance.