Hide and Seek; A Kingdom Game of Maturity.

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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."

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