Ephesians 1:9
“having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself”.
When Jesus came He surprised the religious leader to the extent that they didn't believe He was the messiah. The Creator and King of all was born to a peasant family and raised in a lower class area. He also didn't meet the expectations of the zealots. They wanted a warrior who would deliver them from Rome. He didn't take their challenge, but said, "What is Ceasar's, give to Ceasar."
God only tells us what's necessary. Much isn't needed at the moment. Peter was told to include the gentiles in outreach after the resurrection. This birthed the church age. For the past two thousand years God's focus has been to reach all unto the ends of the earth. That was part of the mystery. That will conclude at the rapture. God will save anyone, but His attention will refocus on the Jews.
God's individual wills for our lives include plenty of mystery. While Paul introduced the mystery, I would consider that as the capitol M. The individual plan God has for each I see as lower case m's. He unveils that which is only needed to know. It's exciting as He unveils something new. A new leg of the journey, possibly picking up an old focus that's been shelved. These are things we would never have conceived prior. But here we are.
We aren't to worry about these things. Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own." The mystery isn't to burden. If so, we are thinking past today. We aren't to go there. Just involve ourselves in today. We might say, "There's nothing to do today." That's ok. Today's part doesn't include any action.
There will be open doors and closed doors. Acts 16:6-9 provides a great example, 'Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”' They tried two directions, but were prevented somehow. While on the way Paul received a vision about where to go next. We'll try things and be blocked. It might mean, not yet or no. Sometimes we pause the decision, other times there's an obvious alternative.
This is the life of faith. We go from mystery to mystery. We all like control and answers. Walking with the Lord purges that from us. We learn to trust Him. We love mystery in movies and books. It drives us to continue reading, even when we are short on time. That same excitement makes life interesting. We all have individual stories. As we allow Him to guide us at His pace allowing for the dissemination of information at the rate He chooses causes the anticipation to grow. This is exciting. We'll learn not to grab the steering wheel and the gas pedal. Allow Him to drive.
Thank You Lord for the mystery of Your plan of salvation. Thank You that You've included us. Thank You for the day by day mysteries. Help us enjoy the anticipation and fulfillment.