Anonymous: Jesus' hidden years...and yours

by Alicia Britt Chole

When previous successes fade and current efforts falter, we can easily mistake our fruitlessness for failure. But such is the rhythm of spiritual life: new growth, fruitfulness, transition, rest . . . new growth, fruitfulness, transition, rest. Abundance may make us feel more productive, but perhaps emptiness has greater power to strengthen our souls. In spiritual winters, our fullness is thinned so that, undistracted by our giftings, we can focus upon our character.

However, with his life (and with ours), it is critical that we not mistake unseen for unimportant.

a plant’s birth begins with its burial.

From God’s perspective, anonymous seasons are sacred spaces. They are quite literally formative; to be rested in, not rushed through—and most definitely never to be regretted. Unapplauded, but not unproductive: hidden years are the surprising birthplace of true spiritual greatness.

“I feel that trials do not prepare us for what’s to come as much as they reveal what we’ve done with our lives up to this point.”

In other words, trials tell us less about our future than they do about our past. Why? Because the decisions we make in difficult places today are greatly the product of decisions we made in the unseen places of our yesterdays.

today’s decisions foreshadow tomorrow’s challenges and reflect yesterday’s choices.

“I feel that trials do not prepare us for what’s to come as much as they reveal what we’ve done with our lives up to this point.”

the strongest influences on the decisions Jesus made in the desert were the choices he had been making before the desert.

Father God is neither care-less nor cause-less with how he spends our lives. When he calls a soul simultaneously to greatness and

obscurity, the fruit—if we wait for it—can change the world.

Hidden years, when heeded, empower a soul to patiently trust God with their press releases. All that waiting actually grants us the strength to wait a little longer and not rush God’s plans for our lives.

His peaceful pace seems to imply that he measured himself not by where he was going and how fast he could get there but by whom he was following and how closely they walked together.

of all the things

Father God could have said, his first words were neither directional (“Go here”) nor instructional (“Do this”). They were relational: “This is my Son.”

Dick Schroeder, a wise teacher and friend, once noted that the first time Jesus heard these words thundered from the heavens, God spoke them before Jesus had ever done anything for which we call him Savior.

for God is still shouting these words of love over his children even before we are recognized or celebrated, before we make the

grade or make the news or even make dinner. Before we get that promotion or even get out of bed, Father God is already shouting. Not because of any stunning accomplishment but because of who we are: through Jesus, we are his! That shout is worthy of a prayerful pause. So take a moment. Allow God’s affirmation from above to echo in your soul: “I love you, my child, my friend. You are my treasure. And I am so very proud of you.” Is there anything else in the whole wide world that our souls truly need to hear?

In hidden years, God is our only consistent audience. Others come and go, but only he always sees. God alone realizes our full potential and comprehends the longings in our souls. When no one else is interested in (let alone impressed by) our capabilities and dreams, God is still wholeheartedly with fatherly pride shouting his love over us.

Eternally, perhaps our greatest enemy on earth is losing perspective and beginning to value our fragile surroundings more than God’s faithful friendship in our lives.

the choices we make in the place of trial today are greatly the fruit of choices we have made in our yesterdays.

the first interaction took place near some stones in the desert, the second at the tip of the temple, and the third on a very high mountain.

we will view Jesus’ experience in the Judean wilderness as one singular temptation with three layers: appetite, applause,

and authority.

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Why does Father God lead those he loves into deserts? To humble us, to test us, to know what is in our hearts, to see if we will keep his commands, to teach us to depend upon him, and to discipline us as his children.

Being powerless revealed what was in their hearts: would they, or would they not, obey God? From Father God’s perspective, utter dependence, not self-reliance, is the true friend of our souls.