I'm really looking forward to going to visit Sr. Rachel on Friday! I will be finishing up the book she gave me to go through and I gotta say it's a good one. I have a few things I want to chat with her about to make sure I'm hearing God right.
One of the things that God is pressing on me seems to be hiddenness. When I look the word up, here's what I found; to conceal from sight; prevent from being seen or discovered. Jesus would come away into hiddenness to be with God and I know that He calls us to be away with Him also, but how many of us make the time? I think that part of this hiddenness is learning to BE.
Have you ever been persecuted? To pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, especially because of religion, race or beliefs. Preacher man and I have. It ain't no fun, however, in being persecuted, you know that your doing what God is calling you to do and your pissing the evil one off! So what are we to do about persecution? Go into hiddenness with God! That's what I've been doing and just this morning had a great conversation with Jesus it went like this:
At times, I feel like you've forgotten me. I am getting a taste of how hard ministry can be. Yes. I'm seeing that we have to be totally dependent on you. Yes, man will fail you. Yeah! They undermine, they lie, they hurt. Why can't it be like it was in Wilmore? WAIT - that was strange too. It's always going to be, depend on you for everything. We can't power our way through this. We have to be powered by Jesus through this. Isn't it enough that his family has closed the door on him? that we have no friends? You have a few. true enough. I am working in you, doing a new thing, still. Can you not see it? Not very clearly. Will you still follow? Yes...but No buts! Follow where I lead!
Ministry is lonely but maybe it has to be in order to get attached to the source. We need to turn inward and upward towards Jesus, the maker and perfecter of our souls.
I gave it all for you, only some people get it. Can't you give me your all?
So to go into hiddenness is to be filled up. If we don't take time to do this, our public life for God cannot bear fruit. Our hiddenness causes us to focus on God. Here, we do not receive human acclamation, admiration, support or encouragement. In our hiddenness, we have to go to God with our sorrows and joys and trust that God will give us what we need. Nouwen puts it like this, In our society we are inclined to avoid hiddenness.We want to be seen and acknowledged. We want to be useful to others and influence the course of events. But as we become visible and popular, we quickly become dependent on people and their responses and easily loss touch with God, the true source of our being. Hiddenness is the place of purification. In hiddenness we find our true selves.
So, I am in search of my true self. Is it easy? NO! Because I have lived in the visible, popular places all my life. Yet it is doable and desirable on a level that I can't even point to. To give it my all, to give Jesus my all, THAT'S what it all about, not the hokey pokey!
One of the things that God is pressing on me seems to be hiddenness. When I look the word up, here's what I found; to conceal from sight; prevent from being seen or discovered. Jesus would come away into hiddenness to be with God and I know that He calls us to be away with Him also, but how many of us make the time? I think that part of this hiddenness is learning to BE. Have you ever been persecuted? To pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, especially because of religion, race or beliefs. Preacher man and I have. It ain't no fun, however, in being persecuted, you know that your doing what God is calling you to do and your pissing the evil one off! So what are we to do about persecution? Go into hiddenness with God! That's what I've been doing and just this morning had a great conversation with Jesus it went like this:
At times, I feel like you've forgotten me. I am getting a taste of how hard ministry can be. Yes. I'm seeing that we have to be totally dependent on you. Yes, man will fail you. Yeah! They undermine, they lie, they hurt. Why can't it be like it was in Wilmore? WAIT - that was strange too. It's always going to be, depend on you for everything. We can't power our way through this. We have to be powered by Jesus through this. Isn't it enough that his family has closed the door on him? that we have no friends? You have a few. true enough. I am working in you, doing a new thing, still. Can you not see it? Not very clearly. Will you still follow? Yes...but No buts! Follow where I lead!
Ministry is lonely but maybe it has to be in order to get attached to the source. We need to turn inward and upward towards Jesus, the maker and perfecter of our souls.
I gave it all for you, only some people get it. Can't you give me your all?
So to go into hiddenness is to be filled up. If we don't take time to do this, our public life for God cannot bear fruit. Our hiddenness causes us to focus on God. Here, we do not receive human acclamation, admiration, support or encouragement. In our hiddenness, we have to go to God with our sorrows and joys and trust that God will give us what we need. Nouwen puts it like this, In our society we are inclined to avoid hiddenness.We want to be seen and acknowledged. We want to be useful to others and influence the course of events. But as we become visible and popular, we quickly become dependent on people and their responses and easily loss touch with God, the true source of our being. Hiddenness is the place of purification. In hiddenness we find our true selves.
So, I am in search of my true self. Is it easy? NO! Because I have lived in the visible, popular places all my life. Yet it is doable and desirable on a level that I can't even point to. To give it my all, to give Jesus my all, THAT'S what it all about, not the hokey pokey!
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