Perspective: What Happens When We No Longer Hide From God? - Jeanne Takenaka

Who of us has ever tried to hide from God?

If I’m honest, I may be guilty of sometimes acting a little like the prophet Jonah and tried to hide from God, especially in the hard seasons of my life. Yes, I wanted to hide from His presence. No, I didn’t hop on a ship or a plane and escape to the remotest corner of the earth. But I found ways to move away from my Father.

Many years ago, I attended eleven weddings in eighteen months when what I wanted was to be a bride like my friends . . . and God said, “Not yet.” I began to doubt I would ever find Mr. Right. And I bricked off my heart. 

Later, Hubs and I walked through years of infertility, and I cried out to Him, “Why?” My pregnant friends’ complaints of, “I’m so fat!” were a slap to my heart. My follow-up thought was, “You have no idea how fortunate you are to be fat for that reason.” 

And I stopped having quiet times for a season. 

God’s plans hurt—left me disappointed—when He didn’t seem to hear my heart or care about my pain. 

When God has encouraged me to love hard-to-love people in my life—those who make me feel small—it seems easier to shut myself away behind protective walls than to be vulnerable to being hurt . . . again. 

I suspect we each have unique ways to hide from God. 

Why we hide from God

Sometimes, we’re uncomfortable with where He places us . . . in a difficult work situation, with rebellious, special-needs or demanding children, in a place where our hearts yearn for something God hasn’t chosen to give us. 

Perspective: What Happens When We No Longer Hide from God—it’s in the difficult places where we get to know God’s presence. In the midst of the pain. . In the center of not understanding the why’s. #tellhisstory #hidefromgod… Click To Tweet

Yet it’s in the difficult places where we get to know God’s presence. In the midst of the pain. In the middle of the discomfort. In the center of not understanding the why’s. 

When we conceal ourselves behind walls or turn our backs on the Lord, we hide from God’s presence.

Perspective on why we should stop hiding

God hasn’t asked most of us to proclaim a message of His love to our enemies. But He does want us to trust Him—to stay close—when He allows painful circumstances into our lives. When He asks hard things of us.

We don’t see the end chapters of our life stories. Sometimes, we’re stuck in the middle of the muck. We always have a choice . . . will we lean into His nearness or will we strike out on our own?

Our pastor once said, “Dwell where God has you.” It’s in the middle of the choosing to stay where God has us—choosing to seek Him—that we find His presence. It’s when we make the decision we will stay that we discover His strength.

Perspective: What Happens When We No Longer Hide From God?—It’s in the middle of the choosing to stay where God has us—choosing to seek Him—that we find His presence #tellhisstory #hidefromgod #godspresence Click To Tweet

When we ask for God’s perspective

I don’t think Jonah trusted the Lord. He was God’s prophet, but he had definite prejudices against the Ninevites. The Ninevites discovering God’s goodness was not on his agenda. Jonah didn’t trust that God had a plan for them and for him. 

Sometimes, we must ask God to give us His perspective, to humble ourselves before Him, and yield our desires to His plans. Even when we know this will bring pain.  

But, when we trust God more than we crave our desires, there’s peace to be found. 

Conclusion

God gave me a perfect-for-me, amazing husband . . . after I came to the place of understanding that my visions of “good enough” were far inferior to His best gift. 

He walked with us through the infertility years and taught us so much about His nature, His character, and His love for us. In time, He allowed us to adopt our two sons. If I had held onto my hurt and stayed walled off from my Father, I may have missed the gift of mothering our boy-men. 

When I find it hard to love, God helps me to see those people through His eyes. This enables me to love even after the harsh words are spoken. 

Sometimes, staying in God’s presence feels like the harder thing because it requires us to persist in what can be stretching, painful places. But, it’s when we remain there that we find the hope of God’s presence to strengthen us, to enable us to walk through those hard places with the Lord. 

The next time I am tempted to wall off my heart, I’m going to remember Jonah’s example and not run.

What about you? When have you tried to hide from God? What helps you to choose to stay near God in hard situations?

Next week we’ll be meeting at Lisa Jordan’s place!

Come share your story at the Tell His Story linkup. Connect and be encouraged by like-minded friends! #tellhisstory #linkup Click To Tweet

Most weeks, I link up with Grace and Truth, Anita Ojeda, Instaencouragements, and sometimes Let’s Have Coffee. Come join and read more encouraging posts!

Each week we gather here as storytellers, word weavers, and encouragers to make His name known. Our story is God’s story and this small corner of the blogging world, where we come together each Tuesday, needs you. This is a place where poetry, snapshots, prayers, and stories find a safe spot to nod in agreement that what we have to say matters. I am glad you are here and would love to have you join the #TellHisStory community. Add your own encouraging post through the link below. Spread some love by visiting your neighbor and leaving your own encouragement. Click here to read more about the #TellHisStory community and find a button to add to your site.

Each week we gather here as storytellers, word weavers, and encouragers to make His name known. Our story is God’s story and this small corner of the blogging world, where we come together each Tuesday, needs you. This is a place where poetry, snapshots, prayers, and stories find a safe spot to nod in agreement that what we have to say matters. I am glad you are here and would love to have you join the #TellHisStory community. Add your own encouraging post through the link below. Spread some love by visiting your neighbor and leaving your own encouragement. Click here to read more about the #TellHisStory community and find a button to add to your site.