A few years ago at a women's retreat I was amazed and enlightened by the speaker, Alicia Britt-Chole. She opened my eyes to a concept that I never considered before. Now, several years later I can still remember her words and I share them with others. In a society where it's important to be known and in the "spotlight", she shows that those times when we are anonymous are some of the most important times of our lives.
Jesus' first three decades of life were mostly hidden. However, with his life (and with ours), it is critical that we not mistake unseen for unimportant. Hidden years are unapplauded but not unproductive. They are sacred spaces, to be rested in not rushed through and most definitely never to be regretted.
In this personal, reflective book, Alicia helps us recognize the riches that God grows in us during uncelebrated seasons of our lives. Here is a bit from the first chapter that I hope touches you as it does me:
1 the iceberg equation
Have you ever felt hidden? Have you ever moved to a new place or entered a new environment where no one knew who you were, what you could do, or what dreams ignited your soul? Have you ever crossed the threshold into another season of life, like parenthood or extended studies, where you shifted from recognition to anonymity, from the court to the bench, from standing as a leader to sitting as a learner again? Have you ever resigned or retired from a position or title and transitioned from being sought out to left out, consulted to unconsidered, celebrated to celebrating others?
In these hidden seasons, we are more familiar with being invisible than acclaimed. Concealed for months or years or decades, our potential seems to hibernate like a bear in winter, and over time we begin to wonder if spring will ever awaken it again.
Hidden hopes. Hidden dreams. Hidden gifts. All of us are acquainted with chapters in life when our visible fruitfulness is pruned back, our previously praiseworthy strengths become dormant, and our abilities are unnoticed by the watching world.
Like a flower whose budding glory is covered up by wet leaves, we sense the weight of hidden-ness in our hearts and whisper, “I have so much more to give and be.”
But there is One who can see the beauty of that covered, smothered flower: God himself. And, mysteriously, his delight in that beauty is not diminished by its leafy camouflage. Neither would his pleasure be amplified by the flower’s visibility. Good news indeed for the hidden.
In fact, obedience to this God who appreciates the visible and invisible equally has led many truly great souls into long seasons of anonymity. Some emerged from obscurity into eminence. Others remained relatively unknown. All agreed that God never wastes anyone’s time.
Whether we enter hidden-ness deliberately (as in pursuing an education or relocating with a new job) or unwillingly (as in an extended illness or in grief following the loss of a loved one), we can spend years feeling that the greatest part of us is submerged in the unseen, as though others can only see the tip of the iceberg of who we really are.
Through chattering teeth, arctic scientists inform us that only one-eighth to one-tenth of an iceberg is visible. As much as 90% is submerged in the unseen. Because of their enormous mass, with that proportion, icebergs are virtually indestructible.
10% visible + 90% unseen = an indestructible life. The most influential life in all of history reflected the iceberg equation. Ninety percent of his life on earth was spent in obscurity. Ten percent of his earthly life was spent in the public eye.
And all of his life was, and still is, absolutely indestructible.
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