Hidden with Purpose

Have you ever felt hidden? Have you ever moved to a new place or entered a new environment where no one knew who you were, what you could do, or what dreams ignited your soul? Hidden hopes. Hidden dreams. Hidden gifts. All of us are acquainted with chapters in life when our visible fruitfulness is pruned back, our previously praiseworthy strengths become dormant, and our abilities are unnoticed by the watching world. Like a flower whose budding glory is covered up by wet leaves, we sense the weight of hiddenness in our hearts and whisper, “I have so much more to give and be.”
--“Anonymous Jesus Hidden years..And yours” by Alicia Britt Chole

This passage brings understanding to many of the feelings I face. Feelings of anger, resentment, frustration, fear, unworthiness, and eagerness for something new. I find myself unable to pinpoint what has me consumed by such negativity when life around me doesn’t appear to the outside eye to be a time of hardship or inconvenience. How many times have we worked a job, complained, and heard someone say, “hey, it’s a paycheck.” While you knew that statement was true and that you should be grateful, there just is this feeling deep inside that makes even a blank check feel like not enough.

We want to be individuals of purpose. We want our value to go beyond a printed check and a collection of possessions. We long for worth. The reality is that while we feel angry towards our jobs, our bosses, our spouses, our current situations, the real person we are most angry with is ourselves. We are frustrated that we aren’t doing more, being more, and feeling more. We long to push ourselves further and yet always feel held back. We are under the misconception that it is through our own doing that our worth is revealed. If I just got noticed more at my job, if my boss just realized how much I do, if I just ran that extra mile, if I just helped out a little more. We measure worth by doing and purpose by motion.

The Book “Anonymous” dives into that feeling of being invisible, hidden, held back, it brings a Christian perspective to our worldly frustration and it brings to light the reality that nothing is hidden from God. I’m going to go through this book each day, mostly as a “self-help” awakening for myself but hopefully for anyone else that read this too—the ability to find more to our lives and who we are then just what the world sees.

I know I have so much more to give and to be and I spend so much wasted energy in trying to project that to the world around me. The frustration , stress, and exhaustion of daily life comes in not being heard, not being seen, in trying to prove your worth and showcase your talents and yet realize that this world is both deaf and blind to who we are. Is it enough to know who you are? Is it enough to know that God knows who you are? The fear and frustration come in our inability to trust God with our hopes, dreams, and gifts. Trust in God brings contentment with life and a hope for who we were destined to be.