God does not look at the outward appearance, but at the inward heart.
This biblical truth is one most of us remember from reading King David’s story. When he was just a boy working in the fields as a shepherd, the Lord saw him and chose him to become the next ruler of Israel. Yet, before David ever saw this become his reality, God hid him and developed him through years of challenges and obstacles, all the while protecting him for his calling.
What if God is using this same anointing to hide and protect those he wants to use today?
David Diga Hernandez explained in a video why God sometimes hides those He anoints to protect them from troubles interfering with their calling.
“There are seasons where the Holy Spirit will seem to hide you. There are seasons where you’ll feel like you’re overlooked. There are seasons where you’re going to feel like you’re wasting your time,” Hernandez says.
Hernandez relates this specifically to the times when we feel a God-given dream and talent has not happened yet, but a believer knows they are supposed to be walking something out. You may even start to believe the lies of the enemy that something will never happen.
“The enemy might be lying to you. He might be saying to you, ‘If it were going to happen it would have happened by now,’” Hernandez says.
However, God’s sovereignty and will are much greater than any of our own human efforts.
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“Ultimately, it’s God who raises, and so you don’t have to be afraid,” Hernandez says. “If God wants to raise you, no one can keep you down. If God wants to keep you down, no one can raise you. If God wants the door open, no one has the strength to shut it. If God wants a door shut, no one has the persistence to open it.”
Hernandez says that even in his own time of ministry growth pains he discovered it was the hiding place where he was built up into the person God desired him to become.
“In that season of hiddenness there was development of character,” Hernandez says. “When you serve God and obey Him concerning the calling that He’s given you even during the seasons where there aren’t the results that you want to see, that is when you are doing it out of pure motives. Because in that season, either you’re doing it because you love God or you’re not doing it at all.”
The season of hiding, in essence, then, is meant to purify the believer and to keep you from gaining promotion too quickly that could end up crushing you if you are not prepared for it.
“What you feel like is a waste of time could actually be the most important season, the time of the laying of the foundation,” Hernandez says.
Whatever season you currently find yourself in, whether in a season of being hidden or promotion, it is key to remember that when you trust in God, He will not lead you astray but toward the greatest plan possible for your life.
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
