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Hidden, but Not Forgotten
Victoria Boyson
www.boyson.org
He has you hidden for a purpose; you are His secret weapon!
"My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place" (Psalm
139:15).
Have you ever felt forgotten by God? Do you feel invisible? Does God seem to be blessing everyone except you? Do your expectations of God seem to meet with cold indifference from Him? If your answer is
"yes," then rejoice, because you are at the edge of a miracle! You are on the verge of a breakthrough! The door to your destiny is about to swing open!
The most difficult time of any birth is the few
moments right before you deliver your baby into the world. You are exhausted beyond what you can even endure . . . you cannot stand it anymore. You have pushed and pushed and have exhausted all your strength. You want to
scream, "I can't do this . . . I can't!" BUT you must! It is at this moment that you must push the hardest and exert yourself the most. You are crying, "I can't," and everyone around you is
yelling, "PUSH!"
Then, somewhere deep inside you, strength arises! You have a determination now, where a hopeless feeling used to dwell. Now you cry from the depths of your heart, "I can," and
"I will!"
You are at the verge of a breakthrough and perhaps you are tired of believing, but only you can break through to your miracle. Only you can give birth to your destiny! Only you can fight through
to your dream's fulfillment. Your God will give you His strength when you have none of your own. When you fall short, He will pick you up because, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the
weak" (Isaiah 40:29).
Hidden Miracles
I have felt this way. I have felt forgotten by God. I wondered if the promise would ever be fulfilled - if God would ever open the door. I had been teetering
on the edge of a breakthrough for so long that I began to doubt. "Would it ever really happen?" "Maybe God has changed His mind?" I was tired of waiting, of praying, of hoping in faith! I felt like a
butterfly in a cocoon, hidden and forgotten. During that time I wrote this poem:
Someday, I'll Fly . . .
I've not been myself lately or for sometime for that matter.
I'm not sure who "myself" is anymore.
I
feel like a caterpillar inside the cocoon.
I'm neither a butterfly nor a caterpillar anymore.
I'm not what I used to be nor am I what I'm going to be.
I cannot go back to what I was,
or what was
familiar to me.
I can't rush forward and be what I have not yet become.
It's a miserable place to be.
It's much like a baby in the womb;
you have to wait it out and stay where you are.
I hope
every day will bring the end;
I know God is almost done working.
I rejoice because the end is near,
but still the pain increases.
It's become too easy to not be anything, just a cocoon.
I want to give
up, but You won't let me.
I'm not the caterpillar I used to be
and I'm not the butterfly I know I am becoming.
Becoming a butterfly is scary, painful and exhausting.
I guess I don't want to
remain a nothing,
so I'll endure the torturous path out of this cocoon.
And I know, someday, I'll fly!
Years ago we lived in a house with dozens of trees around it. In the fall the trees were covered with cocoons. We would walk by them all the time without taking much
notice of them. A miracle was taking place before us and we paid little attention to it. But in the fall, our trees were covered with hundreds of beautiful butterflies. Our children would run through the trees and the
butterflies would all take flight. It was a glorious sight to see hundreds of butterflies fill the air, sunlight reflecting off their wings.
Caterpillars are ugly little things, but butterflies are gorgeous. God
loves to make something beautiful out of something ugly. God loves to take the ugly things of our past that Satan meant for our destruction, and turn them into a powerful weapon He can use for our construction. "And we
know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
Death Gives Birth to Life
God takes you through "ugly"
situations only to turn you into something beautiful. The cross looked like the end of a dream to the disciples. They expected their Messiah to come, overthrow the Romans and establish His kingdom on this earth. The death
of Jesus looked like the end of all their dreams.
Christ tried to warn the disciples of His impending death, but when He spoke of dying, Peter declared, "This shall not happen." Christ knew that this must
happen. Like a seed planted in the ground must cease to be a seed in order to become a plant, He knew that His life on earth as it had been must end or He could not bring forth the gift of eternal life for those who would
believe in Him.
"In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me, because I am going to the Father" (John 16:17).
His death gave birth to life (see
John 11:25)!
The "cocoon" that you are in right now is the "death" that will give birth to your destiny. The painful situation you are enduring right now could be the launching pad for your
future.
If you feel as though you are invisible, rejoice, because you are. God has hidden you away to change you in secret, but soon He will pull you out like a secret weapon and show you off to the world.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
Your heavenly Father will declare, "Look at what My grace has
done!" The world will praise Him because they can see what He has done in you. You are His trophy! His reward!
Some may argue then, that you have no right to be where God has placed you. But the voice of
your accusers will not even reach your ears, because you have paid the price; you have endured and you have overcome.
And "You will soar on wings like eagles" (Isaiah 40:31) and yes you will fly!
This Could Be the Day
When the expected due date for each of my children neared, I would awaken each day with the expectancy that today could be the day that I would deliver this child. Each day I would think,
"Today could be the day." I never thought to myself that it just could not happen today, because I knew my time was coming and that this day could be the day that I would give birth. As each day ended without seeing the birth of my baby, I would feel somewhat disappointed. But once again another morning would come and I would arise with hope from heaven, remembering that this day could be the day. And I was prepared to go at any time; I had my bags packed and gas in the car.
Each day that you serve God and wait on His timing for your destiny's fulfillment is one day closer to its birth. As you near your time of delivery, you feel in your spirit that the time is near. Perhaps today is the day! You look around you and see your Christian brothers and sisters receive the promises of God in their lives - you are happy for them. But when is it your turn? When will your destiny come forth in the way God promised it would? Each day we must prepare our hearts to believe that, "this could be the day He fulfills His promises to me," and then suddenly He does.
The longer you serve God, the deeper you will trust Him to bring the promise to pass for you. As you near the time of receiving the fulfillment of His call on your life, you can know that every day will bring you one day closer. Today could be the day you receive a great blessing from God. Today could hold the answer you have been waiting for.
Wait in faith through each day as a woman waiting to give birth. God does not bring you to the time of birth just to stop the whole process. He did not bring you this far to leave you now. He will not forget you! It will happen! And remember that "He
who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it" (Philippians 1:6).
"God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act?"
(Numbers 23:19).
If He's promised it, He will do it!
Say this with me:
God will do what He has promised. He has not forgotten me, for I am constantly in His thoughts. God is waiting to
fulfill His Word through me. It will happen! This could be the day! God cannot lie; He will not change His mind. I choose to believe what God has told me and not the lies of fear and doubt.
Scripture from the NIV.
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