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Hiddenness: The ‘Discipline of Obscurity’

Hiddenness: The ‘Discipline of Obscurity’

Hiddenness: the ‘Discipline of Obscurity.’

“Learn to be unknown.’ (Thomas A’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ).

Theology professor Dr. Ellen Davis wrote about how a believer who desires to be used of God must be concealed before ministry can begin. She reflected on Isaiah 49:2, in which the sharp sword of the mouth was first hidden in the shadow of God’s hand, and the polished arrow was first concealed in the darkness of the master’s quiver. Dr. Davis called this the “discipline of obscurity,” in which we find God and are protected by Him while we are hidden in His care. It is in the out-of-the-way places that God prepares us in our fight against evil and enabling us in our walk with Christ. We ask God to hide us under the shadow of His wings, and it is there while hidden in Him that we ‘jealously guard’ our private times of prayer, Bible study, mediations and spiritual retreats. It seems that before the light is to spread for all to see, it must first be hidden under a bushel in obscurity.

I am a voice crying in the wilderness, calling out in the desert, to prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him…” (Luke 3:4, quoting Isaiah 40:3-5).

John the Baptist was not out to make a name for himself. In fact, whenever the people would ask him to identify himself, he never gave his name. He claimed that he was a voice, not a name. And to this day, so are servants of Jesus. We are called to be a voice, not a name. We are to extend the discipline of obscurity even into our ministry. Our sacred work is to speak God’s truth and flesh out His presence without our becoming a big name, without putting our own name in lights as a celebrity. We are a nameless voice that directs others to Christ, not a famous name that directs the attention of others to us. We do not seek to become well-known in any way, but instead a voice, content in being unknown. To seek acclaim is to reduce the voice to selfish noise. If our acclaim becomes the primary reference point in a ministry, then we are only feeding our ego and drenching ourselves in self-glory. When we embrace the glamor of fame or name recognition, then we are digging up the grave of the self that was supposed to have been crucified on the cross with Jesus. We are to seek a personal, sometimes hidden ministry in which we are hidden inside Christ, and we are to grow in being content with our names being written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in heaven. We are called to be a nameless voice, hidden from the world acclaim, but embraced by the Name above all names.

“You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with songs of deliverance, encircling me with joyous shouts of victory and rescue. Like garlands of hosannas, you shall enfold me with songs of salvation.” (Ps. 32:7).

Sometimes we choose obscurity, and sometimes we make ourselves scarce in the world by necessity. Throughout Scripture, God is held up as our refuge and hiding place. The Lord wants to protect us, to provide a safe and secret place to run into when we need rest and recuperation, confession and forgiveness, protection from enemies of the spirit. We are repeatedly called to embrace God as our hiding place and our shelter. God has time and again promised to be a refuge, a shelter, a hiding place for us. Heaven knows we are vulnerable to attacks in our life journey with God. We need protection from the elements, the spiritual elements, that would like to defeat or antagonize us. God is the spiritual roof over our heads. God is our stronghold, our fortress, our sure defense. With God as our shelter, our souls are protected from the enemies of our spiritual life. Physical shelters protect us from the elements, from the extremes of weather, from pests and predators. God’s shelter over us does the same in the spiritual realm. We learn gradually to entrust our souls into His eternal safekeeping. When we hide in God’s presence, whether through prayer, Scripture, worship, or spiritual friends, we find forgiveness and comfort for yesterday, love and encouragement for today, as well as certain hope and strength for tomorrow. When God is our refuge, we enjoy the ultimate safe space for our souls in which God has promised to protect us from spiritual enemies and enable us to grow onward and inward into Him. As the praise song triumphantly shouts out, “I might look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You!” Our refuge could very well be our only chance of escaping ourselves as we go into hiding within Jesus Christ. The servants of God have a common theme in Scripture, they sought the Lord as their refuge. In Psalms alone, there are almost one hundred references to God being a refuge, shield, fortress, stronghold, shelter, strong tower, rock, haven, and sure defense. In the believer’s walk with God, dwelling in the certain shelter of God’s presence turns out to be our salvation. The writer of the powerful words of Psalm 91 might also be referring in verse 4 to our hiding under the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary of the Holy of Holies, the very presence of God, “You who dwell in the secret shelter of the Most High, and who rest in the shadow of the Almighty God, are saying to Lord Yahweh, ‘My refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust!’… He will overshadow you, covering you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his truth and faithfulness will encircle you like a shield, like a wall of protection around you.” (vs. 1,2,4).