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For years, I have wanted to author a blog. For years, I have wanted to be heard. For years, I have wanted to be known. Don’t we all want to be known and heard? Don’t we all have stories to tell?

How do you live and tell your story?

I know people that really don’t like being in the spotlight; they go out of their way to stay away from it. They want to work and they long to serve, so they do the job, they use their gifts, and they do it well. They are the ones who work quietly and lovingly behind the scenes. We don’t see them, but we know they are there, and that is what they are known for.   And we love them all the more because of their bravery, strength, love, and humility.

I know other people that love the spotlight, or at least seem to not mind it so much. Even if they are slightly uncomfortable or a little self-conscious, they stand proud, and we all see them. They are gifted, they work hard, and they bravely step into the spotlight. This is what they are known for. We love their charisma, their beauty and strength.

No matter what category you fit into, in the end, there always is an expectation set upon you. No matter where or how you do it, when you are at work, and doing your best, we are all watching, waiting for your next move.

Like it or not, there are expectations to be met.

How do you tell your story? How do you glorify God with your gifts? Are you in front of or behind the spotlight? Do you step out into it, or do you hide? Are you brave in what you do? How do you deal with the expectations? What do you want to be know for?

I want to be brave

But.

For me, the safest place to be is in doing nothing at all, mostly because of those expectations. Sometimes they come from others, but more often than not from myself.  What if the spotlight is too great? It might blind me, and I don’t know that I could handle it.

But if I keep hiding no one will see me, no one will find me, no one will expect anything from me, no one will notice me, no one will care. I could perhaps hide from possible ridicule, disappointment, and failure by avoiding the spotlight and therefore the expectations, but in the end, I don’t want to be invisible. Isn’t it so much worse to risk never being seen or heard at all? That is not what I want to be known for.  

How about you? Have you ever hidden before? Are you in hiding now?

But God, the maker of heaven and earth and of you and me, doesn’t want us to hide. The Psalmist understood this well.

 

Where can I go from your Spirit?

   Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

   if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

   your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:7-10)

 

I wonder if perhaps the Psalmist had been hiding for the same reasons that I hide? Did he think that he didn’t have much to offer, that he was so unworthy that he couldn’t even be in the presence of God? Was there a spotlight or perceived expectations that he didn’t think he could handle? Was he thinking, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do that?”

No matter where we hide, He will find us, He will notice, He will care. He knows us, He hears us, and He loves us. So much so, that He is relentless and unapologetic in pursuing us. He wants us to shine. Whether in the spotlight or out of it, we were made to shine for Him.

I try to hide, I try to escape, but He finds me. Every. Single. Time.

When we hide, He reaches, He touches, He changes, He transforms.

David reminds us a few verses later of how we are fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator.  Today, I want to remind myself and remind you, just as David reminded himself and us, that we are God’s beautiful creations, and although we were made in a secret place, we were not made to stay there.

Paul also reminds us in Philippians 1:6

 

“that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

 

What a relief to know that whatever good work I am is what He created (not what I try to create), I am a beautiful piece of work in progress that is His responsibility, not mine. He creates, He begins a good work, He completes it. Once I step out it is not up to me to meet anyone’s expectations; it is not up to me to do anything to be noticed or heard. It is all up to Him. I step out and I look at Him, I love Him, I adore Him, I listen to Him and move forward in obedience.

I am ready to be known, I am ready to be heard, I am ready to tell my story. I am ready to be brave. I am ready to step into whatever spotlight He puts me in and ready to make Him shine.

Are you ready to be brave? Come out of hiding with me. Let’s watch God as he continues to complete his good work in us.

 

***

 

Very soon I will be sharing with you the story of my favorite hero. He was also called out of hiding. He is my story; he may be a part of your story too.

 

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