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I’m sure that you have looked at this week’s topic, “Hiding or Hidden“, and have immediately wondered, What’s the difference?  Well, I am glad you asked…. Are we trying to hide from God? Or Is He keeping us Hidden?

Although I won’t read all of Psalm 139, David said this:

O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
² You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
³ You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
⁴ You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.

I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
¹²     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

Psalm 139: 1-4, 7, 11-12

We know that we can’t hide from God, but we can shrink back from those things that we know He has told us and needs us to do.  We are just doing stuff or are we trying to camouflage ourselves amid our stuff.  The Lord would never tell us to forsake our responsibilities, however, I’d like to suggest that if we gave Him 100% of who we are, dedicated our time to Him first; He would give us more than what we needed to fulfill all our roles.  We may be overthinking about where the Lord may be taking us, wondering why He really wants to take us there anyway or we may just be afraid of going.   We have surrounded ourselves with so much mental and physical clutter that we just can’t think clearly at all and our atmosphere does matter.

So, here are some examples of hiding places:

• Hiding behind the role of a busy wife and mother – Now I would never underestimate the importance of this role.  The Lord would never tell us to do something that would cause us to forsake our family.  However, I believe that some of us may have lost ourselves in this role and have become defined by what we do and not who we are.  As a result, we are always exhausted, feeling underappreciated and at times, unloved.
• Hiding behind our busy career that we are comfortable in.  We know that we are needed, however, we have convinced ourselves that no one can do it as well as we can.  It’s a lucrative position and it pays the bills, yet it has become unfulfilling.
• Hiding behind being a busy entrepreneur – Because we live in a constant state of uncertainty, i.e., where is the next client coming from, when will I get a new contract, etc.  We too must take a pause and make sure that we are listening to the Holy Spirit.  He may be trying to take us to the next level, but we would rather stay where we are safe and comfortable. We should never just settle for just enough to get by.  Survival mode will not work for where we are going; we must thrive.

So, what am I saying?  We may not be intentionally trying to hide from the Lord; however, we may be unconsciously avoiding what the Lord has called us to do by becoming preoccupied with all our other stuff.  I do realize that the stuff must be done, however, let’s look briefly at a few biblical characters that thought that they had valid reasons to hide too.

There was Moses, who after he killed an Egyptian, he went into hiding in Midian.  The Lord allowed him to stay there for 40 years, marry, have children and life was good.  However, Moses still has an assignment to lead the children of Israel from Egypt into the Promised Land and what he thought would have disqualified him, the Lord had other ideas.

¹⁰ Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”¹¹ But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”² God answered, “I will be with you”. 

Gideon thought that he was hiding because he just wasn’t good enough.

¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”¹⁶ The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”¹⁷ Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me.” 

Most of you may know the rest of that story…

 And finally, Saul, son of Kish was chosen from among them [to be crowned king]. But when they looked for him, he had disappeared! ²² So they asked the Lord, “Where is he?” And the Lord replied, “He is hiding among the baggage.” ²³ So they found him and brought him out, and he stood head and shoulders above anyone else.

So, do we have the courage to come out of hiding, from behind our stuff, our insecurities, or other people? Are we hiding behind our busyness?  Then I must say that the Lord will wait as long as He has to.  He has told us all that He “will be with us”; to help us out of our mental, spiritual, or even physical clutter, that we may be hiding behind. Remember there are people waiting for what the Lord has put in us.   

Next week, we plan to talk about “Being Hidden by God”, unless the Holy Spirit says otherwise…