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Hidden Away

  • Hidden Away from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

    Today I want to talk about being hidden away by God. Unlike the world’s flash, fame, and fortune which is here today and gone tomorrow, before the Lord begins to use someone to bring change in an area, He will often hide them for a season and let them mature like a bottle of fine aged wine. The bottle may be dusty and hidden away in a cellar until the time for it to be shared finally comes.

    In the same way, God tends to hide His chosen ones away until it is time to bring them out. He did this with Joseph, Moses, David, Esther, John the Baptist, Jesus, and others. He spends time preparing them, building their character, humbling them, refining them, and when He brings them out, they accomplish the task that He has prepared them for.

    When Joseph was a young boy, the Lord gave him dreams that one day he would be raised up above his brothers. They were already jealous of Joseph because he was his Dad’s favorite son, and when He shared his dream with his older brothers, they hated him even more (Genesis 37:5). One day when his brothers were grazing sheep near Shechem, his father sent Joseph out to check on them. They plotted on how to get rid of him and decided to sell Joseph to some traveling merchants as a slave, and fake his death. They took Joseph’s robe of many colors, dipped it in goat blood, and took it to his father Jacob, which led him to believe that Joseph was dead. Meanwhile, Joseph was taken to Egypt as a slave, yet God went along with him.

    (Genesis 39:1–3 NKJV) Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand.

    It is interesting to note that the Lord was with Joseph, and considered him to be a “successful” man, though at the time Joseph was a slave. God defines success very differently than mankind, but He made sure that all Joseph did prospered. Eventually Potiphar’s wife took a fancy to young Joseph, and literally tried to drag him into her bed. When he refused and ran out of the house, she changed her story and accused him of trying to rape her. Joseph went to prison for some years, even though he was falsely accused.

    Joseph continued to prosper and he found that he had a gift for dream interpretation, which he began to exercise. He was given jobs at the prison and he did them well. Though he was just an imprisoned slave, he was soon in charge of the other prisoners there. Joseph spent years prospering even while in prison.

    Eventually Pharaoh had a dream which none of his diviners could interpret for him. The chief butler remembered that Joseph had once interpreted a dream for him, so he told Pharaoh about Joseph. Pharaoh summoned Joseph to the palace, and Joseph interpreted his dream for him which went like this: In Egypt there would be seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of severe famine. Joseph’s interpretation was so anointed and detailed that Pharaoh instantly recognized that Joseph carried the Spirit of God within him, and he promoted Joseph to oversee all of Egypt.

    (Genesis 41:46 NKJV)  Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.

    Joseph was hidden away until it was time for him to be revealed, and when it was time for him to save his people, he did it flawlessly. The time Joseph spent in slavery and in prison merely refined him, built his character, made him stronger, and more humble.

    Moses was born as an Egyptian slave, but was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter in the royal palace. He was educated and trained in military tactics. When he was around forty years old, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews and he got into a confrontation with him. Moses ended up killing the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. When Pharaoh found out, he sought to kill Moses but Moses fled to the land of Midian.

    Soon after Moses arrived in Midian, he was sitting by a well while some sisters drew water for their father’s flock. When they had filled the water troughs, some bully shepherds came to the well intending to drive the women away and take their water. They picked a bad day to do that, for Moses in his royal Egyptian garments intervened, and he protected the women. He later married one of the sisters and started a family.

    In Egypt Moses had learned to be somebody, but in Midian Moses learned how to be nobody. Moses had lived a pretty comfortable life in Pharaoh’s house in Egypt, but now he learned to work hard, to be a servant, and to look after others. Moses spent the next forty years tending sheep in the wilderness of Midian before the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush and sent him back to Egypt to deliver His people. He had began as a fiery young man with a temper, but God hid him away for forty years as a shepherd in the wilderness, until he became the most humble man on the Earth (Numbers 12:3). When God sent him back to deliver His people, Moses got the job done.

    Esther was another who was hidden away until the right time came. The king of Persia was in search of a new wife at the time, so he started a contest to find the most beautiful woman in his kingdom. Esther was very attractive, so she was selected to join the harem of the king. She spent one year undergoing “beauty treatments” before she even got to meet the king. Now a year seems like a long time for beauty treatments, but it was partly to be sure that the new women joining the king’s harem were not already pregnant with a child that was not his. Also the very hot climate made strong perfume something to be desired, something you wished everyone had.

    (Esther 2:10 NKJV)  Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it.

    Esther was hidden away and literally prepared for the big night. No one but Mordecai knew who Esther was or her nationality. When she finally went to meet the king, he was blown away. The king married her and put a royal crown on her head. She became his wife, Esther the Queen of Persia. Not long after this, Haman the Agagite plotted to wipe out all the Jews in the kingdom of Persia, but he had no idea that Queen Esther was Jewish. When Mordecai learned of the plot and asked Esther to speak to the king on behalf the Jewish people, she was afraid to, so he told her this:

    (Esther 4:13–14 AMP)  Then Mordecai told them to return this answer to Esther, Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?

    God had prepared Esther in advance for “such a time as this.” You can probably guess how Haman’s plot worked out for him, but in short, he was hanged on a gallows seventy-five feet high. Esther had been carefully put into a place of influence by God and prepared for what was coming before it even began. She was given beauty, grace, tact, everything that she needed was provided. When God revealed the one that He had prepared, the enemy had no chance.

    The idols of the world are often shallow and superficial, a mile wide, and an inch deep. God prefers refined character that has been tested and tempered. We don’t fall apart at the slightest pressure when He asks us to do something for He has prepared us for it. When David stepped out to fight Goliath, he had already killed lions and bears, for God had prepared him in advance. He does the same with us and we should always remember that we have been put here for such a time as this.

    You can pray this with me if you like:

    Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that you give me a clear vision of what I should be focusing on today. Please speak to me in a way that I understand, fill me with Your Holy Spirit, help me make the right decisions, fulfill Your will in my life, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen!


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19 comments
  • 2
Marisa Jackson
Marisa Jackson

Amen!!

July 5, 2020
  • 2
Yvette York
Yvette York

Amen Have A Bless Sunday 

July 5, 2020
  • 2
Schalk  de Beer
Schalk de Beer

Yes, absolutely so Lord, in Jesus's name I pray, amen

July 6, 2020
  • 2
Kay Collinsworth
Kay Collinsworth

Amen Father!

July 6, 2020
  • 2
Brenda F
Brenda F

Amen

July 6, 2020
  • 2
Patricia Walker
Patricia Walker

 Amen.  Thank you Pastor Dion. Sunday's service was an eye opener..  Amen

July 6, 2020
  • 2
Mari Kaufmann
Mari Kaufmann

God give me strength and wisdom. Praise God hallelujah in the name of Jesus Amen 

July 6, 2020
  • 2
David  Earlywine
David Earlywine

Amen,thank you Pastor Dion for the message.Our God is awesome.

July 6, 2020
  • 2
Jim Jarrell
Jim Jarrell

Amen! Thank You Lord!

July 6, 2020
  • 2
Linda Clark
Linda Clark

Great  devotional  praise God in jesus name amen 

July 6, 2020
  • 2
Judith B
Judith B

Amen . Thank you Pastor Todd for this timely message 

July 6, 2020
  • 2
Yvette York
Yvette York

Amen Good Morning Everyone 

July 6, 2020
  • 1
Richard Mondello
Richard Mondello

In Jesus name Amen. Thank You and praise You Father Yahweh! Bless Your Holy and Righteous name!

July 6, 2020
  • 1
Jose Simo
Jose Simo

Heavenly Father I know You are working on me to do what I need to be focusing on, give me Your Holy Spirit to understand Your designs and to do what is for me to do. Help me to make the right decisions ,fulfill Your will in my life, in Jesus Christ name I pray, Amen. Without You I'm nothing. 

Great devotional Pastor, God bless you and Sylvia. 

July 6, 2020
  • 1
Wanda Pennington
Wanda Pennington

Amen and thank you Lord Jesus.

July 6, 2020
  • 1
Pranoti  Kumar
Pranoti Kumar

Amen

July 6, 2020
  • 1
Cathy Webb
Cathy Webb

Thank you, Pastor Dion, for bringing this powerful and timely message from the Lord! I pray that you give me a clear vision of what I should be focusing on today. Please speak to me in a way that I understand, fill me with Your Holy Spirit, help me make the right decisions, fulfill Your will in my life. AMEN!

July 6, 2020
  • 1
Lynn Brown
Lynn Brown

Awesome message Pastor Dion, thank you! May Your will be done in my life, Father!

July 6, 2020
  • 1
Wesley Paulus
Wesley Paulus

Amen!

July 6, 2020