Simplifying… me

If you had a superpower what would it be?  I think mine might be invisibility.  Maybe it’s because of my reserved temperament, or what feels like years of dust accumulating on me as I sit on a shelf waiting for my moment to do something great for God.  Maybe it has nothing to do with either of these.  Yet, for whatever reason, I often times feel…invisible. 

 

I think Joseph – from the Bible, son of Jacob, sold into slavery, thrust into prison, second-in-command in Egypt Joseph – might have felt very much the same way I have at one time or another.  He had these incredible God-given dreams that placed him in a position of authority and prestige, only to be thrown down into a pit, bartered off by his brothers to endure years of heartache and disappointment.  It took tragedy after tragedy in his life for him to eventually see his dreams fulfilled.  He had to become invisible before God could raise him up to the most visible position in the land of Egypt.

 

I was looking at a seed the other day.  There was, with it, a picture of the beautiful flower that this seed was destined to become.  As I took a closer look at the small indescript object, I began to envision the end result.  All of the potential, color, texture and fragrance of this plant was right there in my hand – in the form of a tiny seed.  However, until it is actually placed into the ground, covered up with dirt, invisible and out of sight, it will never become the magnificent flower it was intended to be.

 

And even after that there is still a great deal of cultivation and patience needed before the results start poking through the soil.  Roots must grow deep and strong, expanding out and down under the ground to give the plant a firm foundation.  Without them the beautiful flower-to-be would be swept away when once the first storm were to hit its tender buds.  In time, in God’s time, tiny sprouts will protrude up through the grimy dirt, poking their heads out into the sunshine.  And eventually, the intended beauty of the flower will blossom and bloom: a gift to the world.

 

I believe, like with the seed and the flower, it is actually in those invisible moments – waiting for that dream, hope, promise to be fulfilled – that God is doing, by far, his greatest work.  It may appear as though, after God dropped a dream or a promise into your heart, he then mysteriously vanished.  It may feel close to abandonment.  Ever wonder why God does that?  I have.  What is the point of getting our hopes up, only to turn his back (seemingly) on us?  Oswald Chamber’s wrote: “Whenever God gives a vision to a saint, He puts him, as it were, in the shadow of His hand, and the saint’s duty is to be still and listen.  When God gives a vision and darkness follows, wait.  God will make you in accordance with the vision He has given if you will wait His time.”  God’s silence is not his abandonment.  He has not forgotten you, or the dreams he birthed inside you, simply because he has left you in complete darkness.  No.  He has, in fact, planted you deep in the soil, covered you up, made you invisible to all the world so that one day he may make you visible in accordance to his plan.

 

What can we learn in the wait?  Spiritual discipline, trust, brokenness and complete surrender.  We learn how to wait – how to be still and know that he is God.  We discover our weaknesses, those places in our hearts that are most vulnerable to pride, failure and self-sufficiency. 

 

How do we handle the wait?  We abide in Him. 

 

Psalm 91:1

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

 

Abide means “to remain, continue, stay; to continue in a particular attitude or relationship.”  We stick with God.  And while we are drawing closer to him and resting in him, we are also in his shadow – covered up and hidden away.

             

What can we receive from the wait?  God’s plan made perfect in us and through us.  That’s it.  The chiseling away of our selves and our pre-conceived ideas of what these life dreams are supposed to look like.  Joseph caught a glimpse of his future, and it was phenomenal.  I’m sure his heart started racing as he visualized the greatness and awe of his destiny.  It must have surely blown him away.  But he wasn’t ready for the destiny, and it took a few pits, being forgotten and a couple thousand moments of God’s silence for such a dream as this to be realized.  It didn’t come easy.  And neither will mine, or yours. 

 

During the wait God is refining us – chipping away self and pride.  He is humbling us in order to raise us up.  He is causing us to be invisible so that he can then make himself visible through us.

 

“When you are in that season – that dark, empty pit of your life – there is nothing more precious to God.” – Linda Noah (Communication/Group Life Pastor at Portland Christian Center)

 

As we wait through the pain, through the disappointments, through the long and heavy nights, we are precious to God.  How sweet is that?  He hasn’t forgotten us.  He hasn’t abandoned us.  He hasn’t walked away or turned his back, although it may feel that way.  He hasn’t let us go.  He is still holding on tightly to us.  In fact, he is holding us in the palm of his hands.  He is hiding us in the shadow of his wings.  We may be invisible to the world, but we are not invisible to Him.  He sees us.

 

And one day, when our roots are strong and our buds have blossomed, we will open our eyes, look up and feel the warmth of sunlight on our faces.  We will relish in the moment of seeing and being seen.  No longer invisible, no longer dusty or cast off into a pit, but fully alive and bearing fruit.  Fulfilling the destiny God has chosen for us, our dreams awakened and in full bloom.

 

So as we wait invisible, let us not waste time sinking into invisibility.   Rather, may we be hard at work during the wait, and never for a moment think that God’s hand has withdrawn from us, or that his eye has wandered.  We are destined for His greatness – His visibility through us.

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