Hide and Seek; A Kingdom Game of Maturity.

By -
Ever played hide and seek? My boys love hide and seek and I've realised that I should be playing it more with them. Here's a thought process that I went through this morning after a 7 month growth spirt!

 Spontaneous is good, intentionality is better. The Father is always intentional toward me and this makes me secure. And to live in His intentionality means I can always be secure in sudden (both negative and positive) changes in circumstances. 

But to really know His intentions toward me, I have to be less spontaneous in spending time with Him; instead, being more disciplined in seeking His face. 

As like any good parent/child relationship, The Father loves to play hide and seek. Spiritually speaking, we feel this at times when God 'feels' far away. These are the times where spiritual discipline comes in handy and faith is tested. Not a pass or fail test; but a test that refines. These are my greatest moments of growth. But I'll miss it if all I am chasing is a good feeling or sensation from God.  Everything about God is relational and this is a relationally focused exercise that God does with us.

God has promised that He will always be with me and never leave me. He made this promise to me 13 years ago. There's been plenty of times it's felt like He has left, but once I truly believed the promise that He'll never leave me, the moments of His hiddenness turned into moments where I learnt how to dig into my faith and rest. 

Learning rest is learning to trust. Resting in moments of times when God is hidden is patience. Patience is a fruit of the spirit and handy for displacing the enemy. The enemy has no patience. I am learning to love these moments and they become times of deep joy and freedom. Moments when I get to speak His word back to Him. They are also moments that I learn to sharpen my ear to ear Him. A paradox of how God works, but true non-the less.

It also makes the moments when God reveals Himself even more incredible, but I don't actually learn much in those encounters; where my emotions and senses are fully connected with His Spirit. I enjoy His presence and revelation can come, but the testing of the revelation comes soon after with a time of hiddenness. This is where exercise and strengthen of the display of the fruits of the spirit occur. The hidden moments in God are the moments where God is maturing you. The real secret to getting thru these moments of testing is knowing that God will never leave me or forsake me and that Jesus made this a reality. He’s making this a deep part of who you are so that you no longer have to convince your mind that it’s true, but you know it deeply that it’s true in your heart.

"Make me secure in My Rock, through storms and rough times, make me Secure in my Anchor and Saviour, Jesus. In fact Dad, make me like Jesus was in the storm; make me like your Son Jesus."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Santa v Jesus.

By -
It's Christmas time. When Santa decides if you get something good depending on whether you have been naughty or nice...... I read an article recently, titled " 10 men Christian women should never marry " on a friends Facebook page and was relieved that my wife did not read this before she married me. If there is one thing I know for sure it's that I did not deserve a woman like my wife. She is a believer and loves Jesus. She has been picky and protective over herself about which men to date and not to date. She is everything and more that I asked God for in a woman. She looks after me and loves me to the max, always doing things for me and thinking of how to bless me in our marriage.
Read more

“Build their faith”

By -
I learnt an amazing lesson the other week about how God likes to build people’s faith. Believers or not. The Holy Spirit has been keeping me busy over the past 4 months (hence the low number of blogs), but it’s been amazing learning just how God loves to see the gospel preached. Jesus said     “I told you (who I am), and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ” Jesus also said “ If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38  but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” (John 10:25, 37-38).  Jesus loved to back up what He said with works. Now I am not just talking about ‘good deeds’, I am talking about works like healing the sick, raising the dead, turning water to wine and giving sight to the blind. And here’s the story of how I realised this is for us Christi
Read more

This is your moment.

By -
 God has always shown me a picture (it is a picture to illustrate only) of Him in heaven before I was born and he is getting me off the shelf to put me on earth. He looks at the shelf which has a lot of other people on it and asks Himself “'What does the world need now? Ah Ha! What I created in Jay. He has in him what the world needs”.  And He picks me off the shelf and puts me in the womb.  You have been created and hand-picked for this moment. God cares so much for the people you meet and know that He sent you to make a difference in this world. You are made for this time. He chose you to dwell in. He is not far from you, He is so close. He lives in you. You are made for this moment. Don't hold back. Psalm 139:14The Message (MSG)   and Jeremiah 1:5, Eph 1:4 13-16  Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;     you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!     Body and soul, I am marvelously made!     I worship i
Read more