By Kathi Pelton
Often the greatest growth and spiritual preparations happen in dark and hidden seasons of life. I have learned not to be quick to dismiss those season where people feel isolated, set aside, and even forgotten. Most of our most significant growth comes during those difficult seasons.
I remember a time that the Lord took me into a beautiful vision— in this vision He was holding a tulip bulb. There was nothing attractive about this bulb and yet the Lord was enamored by it, for He could see beyond the the outer covering or form. He reached down into a patch of dark, rich soil and dug a hole; carefully He placed the bulb into the depth of the fertile soil. He covered the bulb until it was fully concealed and hidden.
Then I was taken underground where the bulb had been buried and I could see that the Spirit of the Lord was there with this bulb. I saw beyond the outer layer and there was great life and growth happening within it, just like within the womb of a pregnant woman. Though no eye could see this bulb and it appeared forgotten, the Lord was still enamored by it and what He had created within it. I saw Him spending time with it in this hidden and secret place (underground) and He was teaching it, feeding it, growing it, shaping it, and loving it. As He nurtured this bulb its roots began to go deep and then I saw a green shoot of life emerge from the top of it. Then I saw the Lord wrap Himself around this buried bulb like a garment of light. As He did this it suddenly burst forth from underground and quickly grew into the most radiant tulip I’d ever seen. Everyone who passed by would stop to look upon the beauty that it now displayed. Little did they know what had happened in the hidden place, the dark place underground to create such beauty.
Yet, in the midst of the beauty that was being displayed, God was still focused and enamored by the bulb that remained hidden in the secret place. He knew that the beauty above ground would come and go throughout different seasons and the attention of the “onlookers” would also come and go. The true life would always be in the hidden place where seed (bulb), the roots and the nurturing of a loving God was experienced. The manifestation that could be seen above ground was temporary; it would flower then it would fade; but the deep place was eternal and would never lose His love and attention.
What an amazing picture of our lives in Christ. We are truly formed in the hidden and secret place where no man can see. Just as we were hidden and formed in our mother’s womb, we are also hidden and formed in the spiritual womb of the secret place where no one else can see. God is far less enamored by the fruit—or flower—that draws the attention of man; He is overwhelmed by the beauty of the inward places where His Spirit dwells. It is there that life and light causes the flowering of our character and the fruitfulness of our surrender.
Do not despise the day of small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10)!
Who I am today and who you are was and continues to be formed in deep (and sometime dark) places. We often wrestled against this work in the hidden places of our hearts and in seasons of darkness until we remember that God is there with us. As we learn to surrender to Him, our roots will go deep and we experience Him being wrapped around us like that garment of light that will forever transform us.
You are still being formed in the hidden place. This will never stop. You will flower again with a greater understanding that the true beauty and power is coming out of the hidden depths of personal transformation. It is formed within the realm of the unseen place where trust, faith, and the inward parts are being transformed into His image.
Surrender to His love and to the place where “Christ in you” is formed. When He is formed in you His love will dwell within you no matter the season of life. Intimacy will become a part of your roots and your flower. Allow the “secret and hidden place” with Jesus to transform you— to put within you His love and His character— for this is where fruitfulness is created.
“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27
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