Hiddenness, or the wilderness, is a time when God seems to have removed himself from your life. The imagery always made me think about the Israelites wandering through the desert for 40 years. They were always so quick to turn their focus from God, even though God was manifesting Himself everyday in multiple different ways. Such as the pillar of smoke by day, the pillar of fire by night, manna, water from a rock, the Ten Commandments and Moses returning glowing with His glory. Not to mention the parting of the Red Sea.
Hiddenness is not something that I had heard much about in my lifetime in the church. I don't know if that is just because it was not a season I was in, or if it simply was not addressed. While on the World Race July route 2 (G Squad), I spent the majority of the race in a season of hiddenness. And I spent most of that time in frustration and annoyance with God. He did not warn me as He sometimes warns others of His quietness, but basically just went off the map. I was lost. I went from hearing my Fathers voice through many different facets, to not hearing him at all. I knew He was still there, and was still speaking through me (because lets face it, I can't come up with most of the things that come out of my mouth). But I missed the conversation, I missed spending time talking and learning from my Father. I finally came to some sort of peace after four months of quietness from my Father. That is when he gave me a reprieve and began to speak again and pour into my life the promises of more of Him. That lasted two months, and there was a lot of deepening in desire and longing for more of Him. I had a new vision and renewed hope in His promises. There was also an increase in demonic attacks (this will be significant later). When God hid himself again after the two months passed, I freaked out. Like a child taking a hissy fit, I decided the best of course of action would be to ignore him too. I stopped trying to talk to God. He obviously did not want to spend time with me, why would I seek after Him? I can survive. HA! Oh the lies we believe when we do not understand the inner workings of God.
Often times when you don't understand hiddenness, you feel lost, alone, forgotten, frustrated, like you did something wrong. You may go searching (like I did) for things to repent of or confess, to try and get right with God again. God told me to stop looking for trouble, and rest. It doesn't matter how much of a fit you throw as He draws you quietly into Himself, God's purpose will prevail. Remember that He promises "I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), and that He also says "behold I am with you always." You are not forgotten, you are being pursued by the Almighty God. God is in the silence of your life. He has not left you. You are not alone.
Hiddenness is not something to hate, or even fear. I am learning that it is in hiddenness that God draws you closer to Him IF and only if, you are really listening and seeking after him. I wasted a lot of time throwing my temper tantrums in my misunderstanding of my circumstances. I wasted time that I could have spent learning about my Father, and His love for me. A sermon by Graham Cooke was what began my understanding of this season in my life. He said that in hiddenness God has disconnected you from your "normal" way of receiving Him because he wants to teach you a more excellent way, through faith. In a sermon by Kris Valloton he said that in an intimate relationship there are times when words are not needed. That there are times where words are actually inappropriate. God gave me the comparison of myself and my best friend. We often will sit together and do not talk, yet we know each other and are enjoying the others company. The same thing with God, He wants to hang out.
The bible actually talks a lot about hiddenness. Here are some examples:
Revelations 2:17
He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
Colossians 3:2-3
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Psalms 17:8-9
Keep me in the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.
Psalms 31:20
In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.
Psalms 91:1
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of The Lord. "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
Psalm 32:7
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and you surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of The Lord, this I seek: that I may dwell in the house of The Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of The Lord and to seek him in his temple.
When you are hidden with Christ in His intimacy you are protected from evil and given a refuge in time of trouble. As Christ draws you into Himself you are removed from the emotional, removed from the experiential and you begin to build your faith on trust. In hiddenness God teaches His wisdom. You will learn to walk with Him free of emotional connection, you will learn reverent fear, and be given a new peace and serenity. It is a newness and a stillness that must be taught as well. The deep truths of God will be revealed during this time.
When God changes the way you normally hear from him, you must relearn how he speaks. Learning to hear that still small voice, after being used to hearing Him so clearly for so long… proved to be difficult for me. Kris Valloton said that sometimes God changes it up, and we must be careful that we don't miss it. I almost did. God enjoys keeping the marriage spicy, and so he appears to us differently as He sees fit. One example from the bible is when the disciples did not recognize Jesus after the resurrection. Another would be the Pharisees not knowing Jesus was the Messiah because He didn't come as they expected him to come. Be careful not to put God in a box or a certain mindset, He is fluid and apt to change His method. For example, in Exodus 17, the Israelites were complaining about not having any water, God told Moses to strike the rock and they would have water. Again in Numbers 20, the Israelites were complaining about not having water and God told Moses this time to speak to the rock and they would receive water. Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck it twice, the people received water, but God was not pleased and Moses was refused passage to the promised land. We must learn to move with God and not simply rest on what God told us to do in the past. Sometimes, He changes things up.
1Kings 19:11-13
The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of The Lord, for The Lord is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before The Lord, but The Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but The Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
I had gotten so used to hearing God's voice so clearly in my head, through conversations, through images, through dreams, through single words, that when He stopped using those means and got quiet, I didn't know what to do. What I needed to do was sit in silence and wait for God to speak. But I didn't do that. I'm not very patient. And I have never been very good at resting either, just ask my mom. I did not know that God changed His communication styles, I thought He had left me.
In hiddenness God WANTS to reveal Himself. He wants to get to know you better. He is trying to draw you into Himself, to a new intimacy with you. He is redeeming you and forming you. It is about a change of heart. It exposes unbelief in our hearts about our father. It removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. As our hearts become more and more focussed on our Father and His love and His intimacy, questions of the heart begin to be answered. Our inner-man, our soul, is renewed. Our faith is strengthened and we are given new confidence in our Father. What is revealed in this intimate place with our Father can then be released into the natural realm. New revelations, new wisdom, new understanding that you can share with and enlighten others with, as well as simply walking it out yourself. Hiddenness is a process though which we learn how to process things through the Spirit by ourselves, through faith. He is doing more work in this time than when you can emotionally and physically connect with Him. In this silence, God is working in you below the conscious level. You will find that you will learn more in this time than you would in a time of manifestation. You will find foundations to build the rest of your life upon.
Another benefit to hiddenness is the protection from the enemy that occurs. Even though I did not understand much about the season of hiddenness I was/am in, God was still protecting me and drawing me into Himself. When he gave me the two month reprieve, the second month was stricken with attacks from the enemy. It was as though the devil finally found me and thought "Ah-ha! There she is! Get her!" Everyday was a struggle, everyday there was a new form of attack. When you are in a season of hiddenness, God is not hidden from you, but rather God has hidden you from the evil one. He has drawn you so close to Himself that the devil can't see you. You are hidden from any attacks because of your location with the Father. You are sitting there on your Fathers lap, arm around His neck in the throne room, while the devil lurks outside, wandering aimlessly because there is nothing that he can do to you. This is where God establishes you over your enemies. Where God will reveal His strategy, His plan and His purpose through His wisdom and knowledge. Rest in the shadow of His wing.
The opposite of hiddenness is manifestation. This is a time when God invades our natural realm. A time when He shows off and you connect with Him emotionally, and physically. You are consumed by His presence. It is important to know what season you are in with your Father, it will make your life much more enjoyable and help you grow in Him.
"Shawna, God knows your love language. It is not words of affirmation, but quality time. This is what He is doing right now."- Stephanie Vergara.
1 Corinthians 2:10-16
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in the words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The Spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any mans judgement:
"For who has known the mind of The Lord that he may instruct him?"
But we have the mind of Christ.
