Of New and Old

educationisnowhere

I recently saw this jumble of letters in a magazine advertisement. The caption mentioned that this could be read two ways: "education is nowhere," and "education is now here." Much the same, the title of this blog, "hiddeninsignificance," can be read two ways: "hidden insignificance," and "hidden in significance."

Both of these phrases mean something to me, so it saddens me to make them my first post, for soon enough they will be lost in the uttermost depths of the archives. Still, I must explain my meaning, if only for myself. As I tried to come up with a name for this blog, everything I came up with was taken. Every of my ideas was rebutted with a suggestion to stick "couper" on the end of it. My first thought was an idea that I had been mulling over in my mind for some time: the difference between "insignificance" and "in significance." I was really intrigued that such a minor difference could make such a major change; a complete flip-flop in definition, but still both remain true. But insignificance was taken, and nothing I could do to it was both legal for a blog url AND kept the initial meaning and depth of the thought.

So I sat.

And as I sat, an old Fanny Crosby hymn passed through my mind: "He hideth my soul in the cleft of the Rock, that shadows a dry, thirsty land / He hideth my soul in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand . . ."

I am hiddeninsignificance. I can think of many songs that start out along the lines of "Who am I?" I am one among billions. I am a cell in the biological structure of the Body of Christ. What about when I'm up in the spotlight, leading a hundred people in corporate worship? I am a road sign, pointing people to Jesus. I am nothing. At most, I am a vessel. I am just another insignificant place holder tucked away in the crowd. All this being true, those "Who am I" songs go on to say something like "that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name. . ."

I am hiddeninsignificance. The psalmist wrote, "You knit me together in my mother's womb." I am not an avid "knitter," but I would guess that it doesn't just happen. It's not like God said, "Let there be Daniel" and there was Daniel. He knit me. Every tissue, every cell, every organelle, every A, T, C, and G of my DNA. That is a lot of intricacies for something so insignificant. So perhaps I am not so much Insignificance as I am inSignificance.

I am hiddeninsignificance. When insignificance is made in significance, it takes on a whole new meaning. Insignificance is the exact opposite of significance, which means "something that has power, position, or value." Thus, insignificance is the lack of power, position, and value. The awesome thing is that our insignificance makes us eligible for entry into the Significance. This Significance is the most powerful and valuable force in the universe. In fact, this Significance is the spring from which all insignificance sprang forth.

I am hiddeninsignificance. By now, you may be wondering where the "hidden" comes into all this. Backtrack a little bit to being insignificant. Is this insignificance a bad thing? One more thing that God put in between us and Himself? Must we surpass this insignificance to reach Him? By all means, No! Quite the contrary. We must not overcome insignificance. . . we must embrace it. Many know the story of Jesus and the little children from Sunday School. However, few realize the power and the value of it. Jesus said we must become like the little children. In an adult world, children can be seen as anything from a nuisance to a "doll," but in one word, children are insignificant. As a result of this, children must cling to and immerse themselves in the identity or significance of their parents. This is what God desires for us. He holds in Himself a significance deeper than any that we could amass. He desires not for us to find our own significance, but to integrate ourselves into His unsurpassable significance.

I am hiddeninsignificance. This concept is far too deep for me to understand, let alone write all I wish to share about it in a matter of a few hours. There is much more to being hiddeninsignificance than I know of. But I do know one thing.

I am hiddeninsignificance.