Hiddenness

A few months ago I was given an opportunity to have a Sozo ministry time from a former teacher of mine and her best friend. It was a profound time for me as it marks the end of this period of time where I couldn't hear God. While receiving this ministry there were a lot of things that God brought up and actually spoke or "showed" me in various visions about emotions, dealings with people, different "thorns" and "weeds" that I had been trying to kill for years and yet they still kept coming back. The lingo isn't really what matters, my point was that God revealed himself to me in so many facets of my life - it was a very overwhelming time, in a very good way. But one of the things that stood out, and has been brought back to my remembrance since Friday, is this awareness of "hiddenness" or being hidden.

Pslams 27:5 "For he will conceal me there when trouble comes; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock" (NLT) or the NIV "For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock." During my Sozo I had a vision about myself - it was actually one I had had since I was little - but it was of me as a small flower trying to grow in the midst of rocky, sometimes sandy, and sometimes dry clay soil. I was exposed, sometimes blown around by the wind, and often living in drought conditions. I was growing but I wasn't thriving. I don't know how many years of my life I've spent feeling like that but all I knew was God kept coming back to water me and that's why I kept growing. But there were all these conditions going on around me that kept keeping me from thriving. And I realized during this time that I could have easily asked God to transplant me but I never did, I just accepted that this was going to be my life.

As my former teacher (who I would consider a good friend) walked me through this she asked me to ask Jesus what He wants to do about it. Next thing I know I'm seeing this same flower, me, planted in a meadow, on a hillside, with various trees surrounding me - sheltering, supporting and protecting me from the winds that sometimes blew. And when the winds did blow it was a delight because I was strong and safe, hidden and sheltered from their full force. And when the sun beat down on me I had enough nourishment and hydration to delight in that as well.

What Jesus continued to show me is that even when the circumstances in my life in this physical world are beyond what I think I can handle God has placed me,who I really am, in this safe place. I have been hidden. 

Well when this last Friday came, I knew I was stepping into a battle. I knew I was starting to fight to win back territory that I let Satan and my own sin control and to break some chains that have held me down, kept me in the accuser's grasp for a long time. And usually when you enter into that kind of situation there's some kick back. But then God just reminded me that I have been hidden. That in those dry and weary times He kept me going, that He provided people in my life who have been there, and that He was the one who wants to transplant me.

God's will for us is to see us thrive. Sometimes that means He has to let some storms come through just so we can come to realize who He is. Sometimes He lets us stumble and fall because we have free will, and the only way for us to realize we need a Savior is to come to grasp the reality of our own humanness. But He also hides and shelters us, who we really are in essence, in His presence - in His dwelling place. That is where Satan CAN NEVER reach you. Our bodies, minds, relationships, and even spirits can have terrible things happen to us - at others' hands and at our own hand. And yet, when you are in Christ, when you have surrendered your life to Him and plead the blood of Jesus over you and believe in His salvation, YOU are hidden and out of reach of any and all harm. And because of that, you can't help but thrive.