In the second week of our series, Help I’m Hurting, we heard a powerful message from our very own Pastor Charles Metcalf. Have you ever felt hurt and hidden? Have you ever felt like the pain of your situation is almost as bad as being alone and not having anyone to share it with? If you feel like you are hidden, this message is for you. Check out this message and share it with someone in your life who needs to hear it!
transformation church
hello hello hello good morning good
morning good morning
welcome to church today welcome to
church today man we are so glad that
you’re here we’re so honored that you’re
here and today is gonna be a good day is
anybody happy that god woke you up this
morning that you got breath in your
lungs that he’s still good
hey listen we’re so grateful that you’re
here today and uh i am honored to be
bringing the word of god with you and to
you and
it’s such a blessing anytime we get to
worship god together and you need to
know no matter where you are no matter
what you’re going through no matter
your
your positioning toward god there’s
something special that you need to know
and uh you know over this past weekend i
was having some conversations and
i was talking to someone and they were
talking like you know you know i don’t
know how much i believe in god like i
don’t know you know it seems like a lot
to believe it seems kind of far-fetched
the stories are kind of wild the church
seems kind of messed up there’s just
there’s just a lot of hurdles um for me
to believe in god
and and really in that moment i i had to
stop myself because me trying to address
your hurdles really isn’t going to
change anything but what i said is the
amazing thing about our god is that you
don’t have to believe in him for him to
believe in you
you see he he has always existed he’s
always been he stands outside of time he
stands outside of your situation and the
beauty is is because he’s not in it he
has a different perspective and today no
matter where you are no matter if you’ve
been following god your whole life maybe
you did something last night and you’re
feeling the shame and the weight of that
what you need to know is there is a god
who is madly in love with you
like the story of this bible the story
of christianity it is not about a list
of good things to do it’s not about
about being a good person it’s not about
singing songs it’s not about buildings
this book right here is a story of a god
who was madly in love with hurting and
broken people
the story of this book cover to cover is
that there are people who are not
perfect there are people who made
mistakes there were people who didn’t
really care about god but just in case
they would ever look in his direction
he made the ultimate sacrifice and uh
today as we move forward in this series
i’m believing that no matter where
you’re from no matter what you’re
experiencing that you would experience
god’s love like never before and uh
again we’re so grateful that you’re here
um we’re in the week two of this series
and uh yo last week week one with pastor
bree wasn’t last week incredible
yo it was so good it was so powerful and
you know this series um this series is
for people who want to be anchored our
word this year everybody say it on the
count of three one two three
that’s right we are getting anchored
this year and i just want to remind
somebody who maybe feels like in some
areas of your life that you’re drifting
that maybe feels the undercurrent of
culture the undercurrent of what people
are saying i want to remind you that god
is our anchor that we don’t have to get
off vision we don’t have to get off
mission but this year we are anchored in
him and this series as we’re going into
this the important thing you need to
know is this series is for people who
bout that life
i got i got to say it just like that i
got the braids you know so i’m just
gonna be talking all types of crazy
today um
you this is not for people who just want
to sit on the sideline and stay
comfortable this is not for people who
want to protect your perception and just
make everybody think you’re okay but
people who want real healing this series
is for people who are done playing games
who are done acting like you got it all
together who are done acting like your
instagram is perfect this is for people
who want god to meet them right where
they are
this series is for people who want
healing and uh i just want to to say
today that i believe you will really
lean in you will really give yourself to
this if you will really be open about
this you can experience healing power
that not only will change your life but
will change the lives of generations to
come so can i get one big amen if you’re
ready for this thing
all right all right listen um i’m gonna
hit you with a point right off the top
like no intro just a straight point here
we go you can’t be healed
without being hot
you can’t be
healed without being hot humble open and
transparent
if you want to experience the healing
power of god if you want to see your
life transformed you cannot cover up the
areas that you are afraid to expose to
other people you cannot pretend like
your life is perfect and i know that
being in church this message with some
of y’all because you were raised to
think that if you weren’t hurting you
were more holy than other people
you were raised to think that if i acted
like everything was okay if i acted like
i was healed and delivered all the time
and my marriage was perfect and my kids
always obeyed and i had tons of money if
i acted that way then i was more holy
but when you look at scripture how does
jesus set an example he experiences pain
he experiences loss he literally is
about to raise lazarus from the dead but
pauses and the shortest scripture in the
bible john 11 35 says jesus wept
so if not experiencing pain was a sign
of your holiness jesus blows that myth
up all together he says you can be human
and experience hurt and you can still be
okay
last week pastor bree set a beautiful
beautiful foundation and one of the
things she said at the very top was
everybody’s hurting and that’s okay
everyone’s hurting and that’s o-k
it’s okay to not be okay
i know your life has told you and your
friends have told you and your family
has told you maybe you’ve had a pastor
who told you you need to be okay and
just hurry up and get through this and
just tough it out and just you know just
keep going but no sometimes you need to
slow down
and say hey i’m i’m i am hurting here i
i have some things that that are that
are not sitting well with me i have some
tensions that are from my childhood i
have some things that i need to
address
you know something i’ve realized um is
this journey of experiencing true
healing this journey of really um
experiencing god’s freedom it always
starts with self-awareness
it always starts with a moment of
realizing that i have to be aware of me
that i have to you know and many times
we lean on our friends and people around
us they’re like well why my mentor
didn’t call me and they should have
called me they should have known i was
hurting if you didn’t know you was
hurting how was they supposed to know
you was hurting
your sp oh we we put all the onus on
these other people but really it starts
with ourself for our self or well self
awareness and the thing that i i want to
say today and something that i’ve
realized in my own life is this this is
my next point write this down self
awareness
feels weaker
but is the stronger reality
so you’re it feels weaker but here’s the
thing ignorance feels stronger
but it’s the weaker reality
here’s the thing we have a lot of people
in culture today that want to feel
strong on the outside they want to be
perceived as put together and perfect
and and the thing is that feels better
to your flesh to be ignorant of your
weakness
it feels better to say i don’t have
anywhere i’m bleeding i don’t have
anywhere that i’m vulnerable i don’t
have anything that could take me out i
don’t have any sins that i struggle with
that feels better because you feel
confident in yourself
but the truth is
if you want to experience true healing
there are some areas of you that you’re
going to have to expose and realize i’m
not okay here and here’s the thing about
your self-awareness it’ll feel weaker
for a moment it’ll feel like man i i
don’t if i tell this person that in that
environment i can’t be trusted then i’m
not as strong as i thought i was then
i’m not the person that i built myself
up to be if i admit to my kids that
dad’s got a drinking problem then who
will i be if i admit to my friend’s
circle that i’m actually insecure and
that’s why i buy all this stuff if i
admit to them how will that feel
and many of us
would rather
stay comfortable
than experience the true healing of god
you would rather protect your perception
you’d rather protect how how how you are
perceived by other people you would
rather protect that feeling that i have
it all together and my life is good but
today i i i i would beg you and just ask
to just be honest
just you can you can you can you can
wave the flag
you can say hey i’m i’m i’m not doing
good and here’s the beautiful thing
everybody regardless of if they admit it
or not feel the exact same way
let me let you in on a secret of church
of pastors of anybody that you think
their life is perfect spoiler alert it’s
not
right and i know culture paints this
picture that everything’s good and it’s
perfect but today
we’re going to get real healing today we
want to see god do something real in our
life and i want to go to a portion of
scripture um and we’re going to be in
exodus chapter 2 exodus chapter 2. we’re
going to look at the story of moses and
um
moses is entering interesting and we’re
going to kind of follow through and if
you have your bibles you can turn there
if not it’s okay but i want to read this
portion of scripture to you and we’re
going to jump in this is what the
amazing word of god says starting um in
verse 2 it says about this time
a man and a woman from a tribe of levi
got married the woman became pregnant
and gave birth to a son she saw that he
was a special baby she kept him hidden
for three months but when she can hide
him no longer she got a basket made of
papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with
tar and pitch she put the baby in the
basket and laid it among the reeds along
the nile river
the baby sister then stood at a distance
watching to see what would happen
soon pharaoh’s daughter came down to
bathe in the river and the attendants
walked along the riverbank and when the
princess saw the basket among the reeds
she said to her maids go get she asked
her to go get it for her when she saw
the princess opened it she said this the
little boy was crying she felt sorry for
it she said this must be one of the
hebrew children
the baby sister approached the princess
and she she said should i go find a
hebrew woman to take care of this for
you and
long story short what happens is the
princess finds moses and his sister was
watching is like hey if you need
somebody to take care i happen to know
somebody i got a plug
with a babysitter and she takes moses
back to his mother and his mother has
the opportunity to raise him and then
she brings him back to pharaoh’s
daughter this is what it says in verse
11. it says many years later when moses
had grown up he went out to visit his
own people the hebrews and he saw how
hard they were being forced to work
after looking in all directions to make
sure no one was watching moses killed an
egyptian watch out moses out here
killing the saints
the next day when moses went out to
visit his people he saw two hebrew men
fighting why are you beating up your
friend moses he’s like yo listen i just
like we’re supposed to be on the same
team why are you doing this the man
replied who appointed you to be our
prince and judge
you’re going to kill us like you did
that egyptian and he’s like oh shoot
he said then moses was afraid thinking
everyone knows what i did
and sure enough pharaoh heard what
happened he tried to kill moses but
moses fled from pharaoh and went to live
in
the land of
midian
i want to take a moment and pray as we
get into uh this sermon today wherever
you are would you pray with me holy
spirit
pray that you would have your way
pray that you would speak to your
children but i pray that you would use
your word to illuminate the hearts of
people or god that are really hurting
but i pray that you would um bring life
energy and fresh wind to this message
just the beautiful name of jesus we pray
and everybody say it
amen amen um so i’ve been married to my
amazing wife abby for five years now we
have woo
five uh but um we’ve been married for
five years and it’s awesome i love being
married to abby the the thing um it’s
like literally to where she’s pregnant
right now with her third baby which is
amazing and every pregnancy she’s like
leveled up i promise you like when your
wife gets pregnant it’s just a different
type of like oh lord jesus my god like
you’re just like i’m telling you like
it’s just it’s amazing and um the
beautiful thing about abby and this is
not even a part of anything but i’m just
saying this because it’s a random tip
for somebody you see sometimes when i
was like in middle school there were
girls that i thought were pretty and
they were pretty in middle school but
what i realized when i got older is i
saw them and if you’re watching it’s
okay i love you but um they peaked in
like sixth grade like i said like it’s
like
you were the baddest you’ve ever been
around like sixth grade and now it’s not
like abby is like a fine wine she just
keep getting better
every pres it’s just like whoa mama um
anyways a little distracting moment
there for me but um
being married to abby i’ve had to learn
um different things about her and you
know it was a transition from being
single to being married because when
you’re single if you want to do
something
you just do it like you just like you
don’t really have to consult with nobody
if you want to go somewhere you just
kind of like all right bet everybody
ready oh shoot it’s just me let’s go i’m
just going to go
and i get to go for as long as i want to
go i don’t have to check in with nobody
don’t tell nobody nothing i’m just
because nobody’s asking honestly it
could be a little lonely but anyways um
some of y’all checked in with nobody for
years uh
oof i’m sorry i’m sorry listen i could
literally say anything today i need
everyone to know that um so one day um i
go out and i’m riding my bike and um i’m
gone for hours just hours like abby knew
where i was going she’s i was like hey
i’m gonna go ride she’s like yeah cool
whatever and so i’m gone and i don’t
have my phone i laid my phone down and
so i’m gone i’m like having the time of
my life this is like amazing blah blah
blah and so i get back to the house
and abby is mad
she’s like silent mad
now husbands you know this mad where
it’s like hey babe what’s up she like
hey
and she just i was like oh hey what’s
this
we’re good she was like where were you i
was like well i was riding my butt you
knew where i told you where i was she
was like why didn’t you answer the phone
i was like well because i was riding my
bike how can i ask my phone ride my bike
if you think about that that doesn’t
make any sense i would be that would be
dangerous for me to be in so i’m going
into that she was like look what i i
thought something had happened to you i
looked at your gps and it said you was
in the river and then it said you was
over here and i didn’t know what had
happened i thought something happened to
you you have to let me know what’s going
on
and i’m looking at how i’m like why what
did you i was just riding a bike homie
like chill like but she said she said i
thought you were hurt
she said i thought something had
happened to you and the worst part about
it about it was nobody was around where
you were
and i realized
the intensity behind her conversation
was not only that i could have gotten
hurt
but that i would have been hurt by
myself
i fear it wasn’t just that i would have
fallen and gotten hurt it was that i
would have been in a place where nobody
would have seen me i would have been a
place where where there wasn’t anyone
there and i’ve realized in my life the
greatest pain we may experience is not
just being hurt
but being hurt
and there’s no one around
to see it
there’s no one there to acknowledge the
hurt there’s no one there to to talk to
about it there’s the greatest pain for
some of you is not even the pain it’s
the fact that there’s no one to talk to
about the pain
today the title of my message if you’re
taking notes is help
i’m hidden
help i’m hidden yeah i wanna i wanna
talk to some hidden people today like do
you feel like no nobody can see me i
know they i know they see me but they
don’t see me like they don’t see that
behind all this makeup is someone who’s
really broken behind all of this money
behind this this this this character
behind behind everything there is
someone back here that is hurting and
the greatest pain is not only
experiencing pain but the pain of having
no one to acknowledge the fact
that you’re
hurting there are a lot of people in our
culture and society that
not only are hurting
but you’re hurting and you’re hidden
you’re hurting and it feels like nobody
even knows they don’t even really know
me like they say they’re praying for me
but they don’t even know what to pray
about they say yeah you’re so funny or
they you’re so this and they give all
these compliments but they don’t see the
real me
if they knew what was really going on if
they knew the thoughts i really had if
they knew the tension that was really
going on behind closed doors many people
are saying help because i
feel
hidden
i feel like nobody sees me i feel like
i feel like i’m in a dark place i feel
like i don’t have control i feel like
this thing happened to me this hurt
happened as a child and and ever since
then i’ve been hidden i’ve nobody’s seen
so many of you you have you have gifts
and ideas and talents and you feel like
nobody sees what i really do there are
mothers who feel like my my own spouse
doesn’t even see what i’m really doing
there are people at jobs that you feel
like i’ve got great ideas and i’ve tried
to give the ideas and nobody will see my
idea there are people that you’ve got an
anointing on your life you’ve got
opportunity to have influence on your
life and you say like i’ve been through
this cycle over and over and nobody
realizes and my own parents don’t
understand my own spouse doesn’t
understand nobody at my job gets it i
am
hidden
and
i want to talk about being hidden today
and
you know moses found himself at multiple
points in his life where he was hidden
but his life actually started out with
hiding you see context for the scripture
today is um you know we we talked about
it a while back but joseph actually was
in egypt and there was a time where
where the israelites being in egypt was
actually an amazing thing they were they
were taken care of and it was incredible
and then it reaches a point in scripture
where it says the new king knew not of
joseph
and so he sees that there’s this group
of people who are growing so fast and
he’s thinking if we don’t get them under
control they’re going to overthrow us so
what he did is he put them in slavery
and so the israelites are growing and
they’re still flourishing even though
they’re in slavery and he says you know
what we got to do something i need
everyone if you if there’s a hebrew boy
born i need you to kill it the girls can
grow but but but we cannot allow them to
keep growing
moses mother realizes this
and she takes a moment where she says i
have to do something
i have to i have to do something and so
we see in scripture in exodus 2 that she
forms a basket and she she puts tar on
the inside of it and she places her
child moses in there and and she floats
him down the nile river
now if you’re like me um you grew up in
church and so in your head exodus 2 is
the prince of egypt you know i’m saying
like it’s it’s it’s you see the scene
and it’s all cool and it’s like oh yeah
he’s about to go down the river a little
bit and then but the pharaoh’s daughter
gets him out but i want to step into the
story for just a moment
let’s talk about pain for just a second
let’s talk about the hurt that moses’s
mother has to be feeling
i mean we read past scriptures like this
all the time but what point do you have
to be at and and what are you
experiencing as a mother where you think
the only viable option is for me to put
my three-month-old baby in a basket and
float them down this river
any mother knows that at that time of
your pregnancy you’re feeling all types
of emotions you’re feeling all types of
hormones and you’re starting to think
what could happen let’s go down the road
with moses his mother
she reaches a point where she thinks
someone is trying to kill my baby and
the only thing i can do is put him in
this basket and pray nothing happens
what imagine the anxiety she is filled
what if the basket flips over
what if he floats and i thought it was
waterproof but it’s not
what if what and her only hope not
knowing what would happen to her child
is to release the most precious thing to
her
and to pray
that his life is protected
let’s step into the pain of his sister
his sister is sitting there watching it
says she hides among the reeds to see
what will happen this is my little
brother i hope that he’s okay i hope
this is this is real hurts and pain
people are experiencing but for a second
i want to talk about the person who was
hidden
we don’t talk about moses because he’s a
baby at this point but the principle of
being hidden
is still true
he’s not in control
he can’t see anything
and the worst part is he doesn’t even
know why he has been hidden
moses didn’t know why he was hiding
he wasn’t the self he wasn’t the person
who put himself in hiding
he has no idea he’s three months old and
he is put in a dark space and floated in
a place where he has no control and the
worst part is he has no idea even why
he’s been put in that situation
sounds like a lot of us
in our hiding spots
not even knowing god why did why am i
even in this place why don’t people see
who i really am why am i even in this
marriage why it feels like everything’s
out of control it feels like i can’t see
where i’m going it feels like i don’t
know what i’m going to do and matter of
fact god why would you put me here
why would i be in
this space and the thing i realized is
it took someone
who was outside of the situation
who had an understanding of what was
really going on
and said this will be uncomfortable for
you
and it might be a little uncomfortable
for me
but the best thing and the safest place
for you to be right now
is for you to be hidden
you see there are things going on moses
that you don’t understand like this is
the conversation if the mom could have
one last conversation with her son she’s
like baby i know you’re crying and i
know this is weird because you love me
so much and i think mom why would you do
this to me mom why would you just let me
go why would you just let my dreams go
away but she’s saying baby there’s some
things you don’t understand and there’s
some people coming and there’s some
things that are outside of your control
right now and i promise you if you would
just trust me this is the safest place
for you to be right now
and moses is going
with no control not knowing why he has
been hidden and there are many of you
that are watching this and you’re
thinking charles i have no idea why i’ve
been hidden
i just wish god would tell me i just
wish at least if he would tell me why i
was being hidden if lisa would show me
that no there’s this great story and
it’s all gonna work out but the thing
about being hidden is it’s dark for a
long time sometimes
sometimes you don’t get to know
sometimes god doesn’t tell you why
you’re hidden sometimes god doesn’t tell
you why they’re not accepting your ideas
sometimes god doesn’t tell you why i
don’t see who you really are but here is
the beautiful thing i love about
scripture look at what it says in exodus
2. the woman became pregnant
gave birth to her son she saw that he
was a special baby
she saw that he was a special baby and
here’s the thing that i realized
moses was hidden
because
of his favor
you see
the concept of hiding things makes so
much sense when you exclude it from
people and individuals when we
experience hiding we start questioning
god we start asking god where are you
but the thing is you only hide things of
high value
if you go to a hotel you don’t put your
busted shoes in the safe you don’t put
anything that’s not of value in the safe
you only hide things that have value you
only hide things that think this is so
important that i have to put it in a
space to where it cannot be touched you
see you only hide things because there’s
something special about them
and many of us what happens is in your
hiding season you think you were hidden
because you didn’t have value
you think nobody can see you because you
don’t have value because you’re not
important and if you are important
everybody would see you if you were
special everybody would know about you
if you had good ideas everybody would
know your ideas but matter of fact that
is not true because when we hide
anything it’s only because it is so
valuable that if anyone got to it too
early
it could
it can make a mistake but that doesn’t
take away the fact that for moses
it says when pharaoh’s daughter opened
up the basket he was crying
here’s one of my points being hidden
hurts
we can’t we can’t skip past this it
hurts sometimes
like it’s just it’s not comfortable
if it was comfortable then everybody
would be okay with it if it was
comfortable we’d all be good with nobody
knowing what’s really on the inside of
us but the reality is being hidden hurts
sometimes because you feel like i’m out
of control i don’t know what to do but i
want to encourage you you were not
hidden because you didn’t have value
you were not hidden because you’re not
important you were hidden in fact
because you are so
valuable to god
you were hidden because you were so
special it says before you were in your
mother’s womb he formed you that you
were hidden because of your favor
we progress
in moses’s life and
there’s another factor that comes into
play here and it’s something as i read
through the story that i realized about
being hidden
i realized that no matter who you are
being hidden has hurdles
there are things in being hidden that um
it kind of starts to mess with you you
see moses is in a place where he’s kind
of stuck in the middle
you see moses he was born a hebrew
which means in fact in his space he was
born as a slave
but he was raised as a prince
he was born as a person with no
privilege but he lived a life full of
privilege he was born from something
that other people would have looked down
on but he lived a life that other people
would have looked up to you see he was
stuck right in between and i want to
come to validate some people who feel
like i’m hidden right now and i feel
like i’m stuck in between two things
i feel like i’m stuck between what my
family has always done and what god is
calling me to do but i don’t know if i
have what it takes to do both i don’t
know if i have what it takes to break
the generational curses i don’t know who
i am right now and when i’m in a dark
space you’re only left with
your own thoughts with your own
questions and in the dark and when
you’re in hiding sometimes you start to
ask who
who am i
i mean i’ve been hitting for so long
that i don’t even know who i am anymore
i’ve been in the dark so long that i
don’t even remember
what what worshipping god sounds like i
don’t even remember what a healthy
marriage would sound like i’m dealing
and moses is in a space where it says
when he got older he was in the tension
of his identity
you see he was in pharaoh’s house but he
saw his people
and he walks out one day and i believe
because he’s in the tension he’s in one
of the hurdles of being hidden he’s
still trying to figure out the the
duality of who he is and how he’s been
raised and he and he knows something’s
not right and there’s something inside
of him that says you got to do something
about this but he doesn’t know what to
do and so he looks around and he says it
looks around to make sure no one’s
looking and the only thing he could
figure out to do is i just got to kill
this
egyptian and sometimes
when you’re hidden
and you’ve been hidden for a long time
you
you start to do things out of character
you start to think i’ve just i’ve been
closed off for so long i’ve been trying
to figure out that i got to do something
i can’t not do anything i can’t i can’t
not do i i have to do
something and there are many of you that
are in a season where you’ve
been hidden and you feel like at this
point i just i got to do something
and you’re about to make a decision
that’s against your character
you’re about to do something that you
think you know i just i know there’s
something and i don’t have clarity on
what it is yet but i’ve i’ve sat still
for too long i’ve been people haven’t
known who i am for too long and so i’m
about to show them who i am i’m about to
show them not to mess with me i’m about
to show them that i do have an anointing
on my life i’m about to show them that
god did call me i’m about to show them
that i’ll be a better parent than they
ever were i’m about to show them that
you can leave me and i’ll still flourish
i’m about to show them who i am
what happens is is because that pain has
been covered up for so long
you’re starting to do things and some of
them here’s the craziest thing some of
them aren’t bad things
some of them are good things but the
root of them
the root of them
is out of a place of hurt
the desire to stop his people do you
know this is the thing he was actually
created to do
he was created to liberate his people he
he’s what he was always supposed to do
was to but there was something on the
inside of him that wasn’t mature enough
yet that needed some more time in a dark
space that needed some more time to
because he didn’t know how to handle the
mandate he had
what i want to come to encourage you
with is there are some times that if you
try to come out of hiding too early
you’ll do things that you regret
when you try to when you try to think i
can’t do this anymore i gotta get out of
here i gotta i gotta move to that city i
gotta do something different i i just i
gotta get out because i’m tired of being
hidden i’m tired of people not knowing
who i am i am tired of doing this and i
would just ask please
to wait a moment
and when you start to feel that pressure
of
let me look around and make sure no
one’s looking
i’ve been hitting for so long but let me
not talk to my friends about that a fact
i’m about to move let me i don’t want to
talk to them because if i
start talking to him
they might tell me that well maybe you
shouldn’t he says he looked he put
himself in an isolated place
he was hidden for so long and then he
wants to come out and he wants to start
doing something he says i want to make
sure no one’s around me
because i’ve i’m so hurt and i’m so
confused and i’m so broken that i want
to make sure that i’m isolated and i’m
going to make a decision and i would
just say please when you’re hurting and
you’re hidden
do not isolate yourself
don’t make decisions by yourself don’t
put yourself in a place where you’re
just going to do something because
you’re tired of being hidden
and here’s the crazy thing i saw in the
scriptures it says moses he
he makes this decision
and
it says like this it says
the next day when he went out
he said why are you beating up your
friends so moses he does this and then
he goes out to his egyptians and says
the man says who appointed you to be
prince and judge are you going to kill
us like you did the egyptian
and look what the scripture says it says
then
moses was
afraid
it says moses was afraid and he he took
off
he runs to a place called midian
and i realized that um
earlier in moses’s life
he was hidden
because of his favor
but at this point in his life
he goes into hiding out of fear
and i want to come today to delineate
two things
being hidden is not the same thing as
being in hiding
being hidden by god is not the same
thing as being afraid and going into
hiding
you see some of us are sitting in
seasons and we’re sitting at places in
our life and we’re trying to blame god
because we feel hidden but the truth is
if you were hidden it would be out of
favor but the truth is you have done
some things you have experienced some
things that have made you afraid and now
you’re in hiding
moses earlier it was the favor that made
him hidden but at this point in his life
it was the fear that forced him to hide
it was the fear that some they they know
what i’m doing they know they’ve seen
something and so this fear pushes me to
hide it pushes me to go to a place this
is the human condition when we feel fear
when we feel afraid we think i have to
cover myself
this is back to the garden
they made a mistake and they think i
gotta hide i i’m naked i’m exposed i
can’t let people see what’s going on and
so out of fear
we go into hiding
some of us
you’re not hidden you’re hiding
you’re not you’re not hidden you’re
hiding you’re hiding
from certain friendships you’re hiding
in that marriage you’re hiding behind
the money you’re hiding behind because
there’s something in you that is afraid
that if they saw what you did if they
saw who
you were
what would they do what would they say
and this is the crazy part about
scripture
he runs to a place called midian
midian
means
covering
midian means covering
he’s so
messed up he’s so frustrated he makes
this decision he kills somebody and he’s
so ashamed it says he was afraid and he
runs for cover
he right he just and here’s what happens
many of us when we’re hurting when we’ve
done something when we feel like we’ve
been hidden many times all we’re doing
is looking for covering
moses was just looking for covering he
was just he was just he’s and this is
the space that many of you are you’re
not hidden you’re hiding and it’s
because you were afraid and so you
thought i just gotta find something to
cover me up
i gotta find something to cover up the
shame of the people i’ve slept with i’ve
got to find something to cover up the
pain
of not saying goodbye to that loved one
i’ve got to find something just to cover
just to cover me up and so i’m not
hidden by god but i’m hiding myself
i’m hiding myself behind these kids i’m
hiding myself behind this amount of
money i’m hiding myself behind these
titles and and really it’s just because
i want to be
covered
you know this um we’re in an interesting
season you know over the last year there
were a lot of crazy things that happened
and uh
these i never really saw one of these or
messed with these before
2020 um
you know depending on where you live you
know things are kind of opening back up
and not opening back up and there’s kind
of mandates going out and it’s so
interesting um there were so many people
that got so frustrated with the mask
mandate like it was like hey you have to
wear the mask and i’m not about to go
preaching on masks but i just thought it
was funny um that we got frustrated with
the mask mandate because there’s always
been a masked mandate
no no no we haven’t had to wear these
our whole life
but your family taught you how to wear a
mask
oh your school taught you how to wear a
mask like there’s there’s always been a
mask mandate
you just couldn’t see it and so it was
so interesting that we were like well i
gotta wear this mask acting like that
every day when you wake up you don’t
wake up and go okay let’s get ready for
the day today
uh i’ll just uh okay oh shoot oh what oh
my spouse is here okay hold on hey
sweetie yeah everything’s good no i’m
not i wasn’t looking at porn no i’m good
no it’s okay no i’m no okay good okay
whoo thank goodness all right
oh wait oops it’s christmas oh hey how
you doing on susie yeah we’re good no
uncle didn’t do anything to me no i can
go over his house we don’t have to act
like
no it’s okay we’re good okay gosh i just
i’m so glad and you get back in the car
you take your mask off and you’re
thinking man that was really
uncomfortable i haven’t talked to them
since um
oh wait somebody’s calling me hey yeah
no yeah hey how’s it going no yeah
christmas is doing great how are me and
the wife oh we’re good yeah we’re going
on vacation together um we’re going on
vacation because we’re just you know
celebrating 10 years of marriage it’s
really good it’s really exciting
oh gosh man
i hope they don’t know that uh we’re
actually going on two different trips
and she’s going with her friends and i’m
going with mine but
we don’t let anybody know that we’re
actually getting separated and so um
we’ll just oh wait oh hold on hold on
hold on oh sorry okay okay yeah no no
yeah no we’re good no i’m good no
instagram yeah the influence is great i
love i love being known by everybody and
uh it’s really it’s really great it’s
everything i’m living the dream i’m
really living the dream it’s everything
that
man um i hate my life
there’s always been a mask man dave
we’ve always had to
had to act like
things were okay
we’ve always had to pretend
we get frustrated
that uh we’re hidden
but the truth is
your world has taught you how to hide
some of you are hiding
right now next to your best friend
some of you are in
marriages that have been hidden for
years
your spouse doesn’t know who you are
your
your friends don’t know who you are
you’ve you’ve been hiding yourself
for years and the truth is
it’s because of one of two things
these two things drove
adam and eve to hide it forced moses to
hide it forced david to hide it forced
thousands it forced gideon to hide it
for us there were two words fear
and shame
fear and shame it’s it’s really one of
the two reasons you’re hiding either
because you’re afraid
or you’re ashamed
you’re afraid that if people um if you
told them how big your dreams were that
they would say there’s no way you’ll do
that
they would say oh you know the family
you come from what are you acting you’re
never going to be anybody you’re afraid
of what people would think or you’re
ashamed of what you’ve done
so you’re either afraid or ashamed and
this place forces you every single day
when you wake up to put on your mask
to put on your mask behind your
instagram some of you in your
friendships there is a mask mandate that
we don’t talk about real stuff and we
don’t acknowledge that we’re all living
below the standard that we set so we’re
just going to go out and party and the
mask mandate is don’t talk no check on
nobody don’t ask anybody if they read
their bible today that’s just the masked
man day for our family
some of your mask man day is is for your
family you go say hey we don’t talk
about real stuff but we’re all just
super funny so we just laugh and we make
jokes and we keep everything on the
surface and we’re all good and i love
you so much because the mask mandate is
don’t talk about the real stuff that
happened and if we go there we we don’t
we just act like those things are some
of the masked men day is hey listen we
just got a lot of money and so we take
trips together and our friends travel
and our relationship is good and some of
your mass mandate is your instagram it’s
just perfect and we just put the mask on
of the filter and it’s good and we’re
traveling and we’re going to grease and
it’s amazing and life is perfect but
it’s all
just
a mask
you’re hiding
you are
trying to cover up
but here’s the
crazy thing i found
the problem
is not
the desire
to be covered
the problem is not the desire to hide
the problem is
the destination of where you go to hide
i wanna i wanna i wanna help some people
today because you felt exposed in your
life you felt like you were taken
advantage of you felt like maybe you are
dealing with some fear and some shame
and there’s something in you that says i
just need to be covered right now i just
need somebody needs to protect me the
only problem is the desire is not wrong
but where you’re going that is the thing
i want to address
the desire to hide is not an issue some
of you like charles what are you talking
about we’re supposed to be getting
freedom let me go to the bible look at
this psalm 32 7 you are my hiding place
you preserve me from trouble you
surround me with song
psalms 119 you are my hiding place and
my shield psalm 17 keep me as the apple
of your eye hide me
in the shadow
of your wing
there’s there’s nothing wrong with
feeling like sometimes you need to be
covered
some of you experienced real pain
you’ve experienced stuff that that needs
to be covered
my only question is and my only charge
and what i would ask you
is where are you going for covering
where are you going to get covered up
where are you going to to to hide and
numb the pain where are you going to
feel like you see this is what happened
in the garden
it’s so interesting because adam and eve
walked every day with god
they spent time with him they walked
with him they were comfortable with him
sin enters the world
they immediately feel exposed they
immediately realize that they’re naked
they’ve been naked this whole time but
they immediately felt ashamed about
being naked
and so literally the scripture says this
it says god is walking in the cool of
the garden and he’s asking adam and eve
where are you
i mean this is the first game of marco
polo
this is god like hey where are y’all at
he’s just chilling walking adam
eve where are y’all at
hello
anybody there where where
now the funny thing is is uh god knew
where they were at
he just wanted to see if they knew where
they were at
this goes back to self-awareness but it
was interesting that shame and fear
caused them to hide from the only other
person they could talk to
the only other person that could
actually do anything the only other
person they could have a real
conversation with at this point it’s
adam eve and god there’s no other people
to talk to but there’s only one person
and shame and fear said don’t even talk
to them
go into
hiding
i want to validate you your desire
to hide and be covered is not the issue
you need to be covered there are times
where you need you need to hide as
scripture says in the shadow of his wing
but my questioning and many of us we are
experiencing even more hurt
because we’re going to places that can’t
actually
help they can’t really cover us they
only numb the pain
many of us what happens is it creates
this cycle in us where we go to sex
because we feel like this makes me feel
better this covers up the shame of what
happened to me
and so i run into this hiding place i
hide
in his bed i hide in her bed and i feel
better for a little bit but right when i
stand up again and right when i get a
couple days in i start to feel it and
it’s oh man i got the pain is back and i
gotta go back to it and this is the
cycle of we’re going back and forth to
making more money we’re going back and
forth to marriage to marriage we’re
going back and forth to alcohol and
pills we’re going back and forth to to
pretend here’s one we go back and forth
to religion
we go back and forth from checking off
to do list and acting like if i tell
everybody i read my bible i’m healed and
i’m set free and i’m delivered
there are people who hide behind
religion you hide behind the badge of
christian
and you act like your life is perfect
and you act like everything’s okay but
god is saying if you would take the mask
off if you would just say i’m not okay
if you would just say that really did
hurt my feelings if you would just say i
really did regret that i did that if you
would just say i am insecure if you
would just say i really do have dad
issues if you will say even though
everyone else is applauding
the reason i did this is because
it’s because i was just trying to cover
something up
no matter what group you’re in whether
you feel hidden
or you’re hiding
what you need to know is
there is a god
who not only
knows that you need to be covered
but his greatest
desire
his entire
being the the urge and the the depth of
his soul
longs to cover you
that’s all he wants to do
that’s all he wants to do and moses he
he goes into hiding
and he’s admitting midian he’s in the
place of covering
and one day he’s going about his life
he’s built a life he’s hopefully tried
to do enough things to forget about what
happened in egypt and he walks into a
place where he’s hiding but all of a
sudden this is what i love about god all
of the
sudden hiding becomes holy
in a dark place in a space where nobody
really knows who he is in his space
where nobody knows his past he walks up
on this bush
and he sees the bush and it’s burning
but it’s not consumed and he’s like what
is going on here and immediately god
says take off your shoes because you are
on holy ground
the beautiful thing is regardless of you
feel hidden
or you’re in hiding god will always meet
you there to make it holy
if he puts you there
it’s holy if you put yourself there
he’ll show up and make it holy
this is the beauty of our god if he puts
you there you know it’s holy if you ran
away because of fear he’ll make it holy
and i am telling you some of you you are
in a place where you’re hiding and you
feel like god can’t see me here god no
god wouldn’t come to this pain god
wouldn’t come to this bed with me god
wouldn’t go to that dark place with me
god isn’t there when i’m looking at
those things no even if you put yourself
in hiding god
shows up
and what he says
is even though
everyone else sees the mask
i know the real you
and god
comes to moses
in hiding
and here’s what i love about the
scripture
and here’s what got me so deeply when i
was thinking about this message
when i started thinking about
help i’m hidden
i started thinking about the times i
felt hidden
felt like
people didn’t know or people didn’t
understand her
i was misunderstood i felt like i
i didn’t fit in really
this was all throughout my childhood
sometimes i was the black kid at the
school some kids i was the white kid at
the school just depend on what side of
town we were on
sometimes the i fit in perfectly and
sometimes it and it felt like man the
people don’t see and then as i got older
i felt like man i do feel like there’s
something i could do i do feel like
there’s there’s something on my life i
felt like maybe god would use me but i
didn’t know i felt like people can’t see
my gift or they don’t see what i’m
supposed to do or they don’t understand
me they don’t see me
and i felt like i was in a space of
saying help i i feel
hidden
because they don’t
they don’t know me
but the thing i found in the story of
moses
is in this moment
the reason he went into hiding and the
reason many of us were saying help i’m
hidden the issue is not they don’t know
you
the real issue is you don’t know you
the real thing saying help i’m hidden
is not your talent
it’s the real you
somewhere deep down on the inside of you
there’s a version of yourself
that is crying out
saying help
the real you is hidden
somewhere on the inside of you there is
a pure there is a there is a virgin
there is a a little kid full of joy
there is a young confident woman there
is a man who knows who he is that wasn’t
hurt there is someone who doesn’t have
to prove to people who they are there is
someone deep on the inside of you that
is saying help
i’m hidden i’m hidden behind the hurt
i’m hidden behind everything that’s
happening and i know many of you you’re
in a space where you feel like they
don’t see you but the truth is
you don’t see you
moses
went to midian
trying to cover up
trying to to hide but what happens is in
this holy moment
what’s truly happening
is god
is telling moses who he is
he went into hiding
originally because he didn’t know who he
was he didn’t know he said i felt this
thing as an egyptian and i felt like i
was a israelite but i didn’t know and i
go and he goes into hiding in this whole
conversation
is unraveling all of moses’s hurt
the place of hiding
was because god wanted to heal moses
before he sent him back to do what he
was always supposed to do
the place of hiding was because in the
moment he’s there and god says you go
you go do what you’ve always felt like
you were supposed to do and i’m gonna be
with you and he says but who am
i and and all this is unraveling the
hurt that he has experienced as a young
man and through his life and what i’m
telling you
is god
will meet you in a place
whether you’re hidden
or you feel like you’re in hiding and he
shows up to make it holy and he says
really the goal
of being hidden or not being hidden is
not for them to know you
but for you to know you
the goal of coming out of hiding is not
so that when i come out of hiding people
are gonna know who i am when god lifts
the cover or when i get through what
i’ve gone through and i come out people
are gonna know who i am no god says
you’ll be in hiding sometimes because i
have to show you who you really are
i have to show you
the real
you
some of you
the reason you’re hidden
isn’t because you don’t have value it’s
not because
god doesn’t have a plan it’s not because
there’s there’s nothing he has on your
life it’s because it’s so special
it’s so valuable
that it just needs to be protected for
some time
now i realize this and
this will be my last point
god
will use what you find in hiding
to heal others
god will use what you find in hiding
to heal others
you see hiding can feel dark it can feel
like no one’s there it can feel like
people don’t understand it can feel like
a season of ambiguity it can feel like a
place where it’s you can’t see what’s
going on but what happens is this moment
as god is unraveling and peeling off the
layers of moses’s hurt and and his lack
of confidence and in his stutter that he
didn’t want to go back for and and the
reasons he couldn’t go back and all the
shame that was brought back up because
he killed somebody and how he felt like
he wasn’t enough for them and the last
time he tried to step up and do
something people said something as all
of this is being unraveled
he comes to a point he’s like well i
just don’t know what to do god says what
is that in your hand
what did you get
when no one else was around
i know you’re focused on the fact that
you’re by yourself right now
and i know being hidden has felt dark
and you felt like you haven’t had
friends
and you felt like people couldn’t see
your gift and you felt like there was
greatness but you didn’t know if you
could ever reach it and you felt like
there was something you’re supposed to
do and it’s been so dark and it’s been
so hard but god says even while you’ve
been hidden
[Music]
you’ve had something in your hand the
whole time
i want to talk to some people today that
you feel like you’re hidden
you’ve been hidden for so long that you
forgot what was in your hand
[Music]
you forgot that even though you haven’t
had anyone else there’s been something
in your hand
that god wanted to use
even though you don’t have anything else
even though you don’t have the money
even though you’re not where you think
you want to be there has been something
in your hand the whole time
and god is saying if you will just if
you would just take off the mass if you
would just admit that you’re not okay
that’s the thing moses is saying god i
can’t go back to them i have a stutter i
have issues some of you just need to say
god i can’t do what you’ve called me to
do i’m ashamed i’m embarrassed of what
i’ve done i feel like i’m not qualified
nobody in my family’s ever went to
college no man my family’s ever done
that before i’ll never get out of
poverty i’ll never be able to to live
here and live a whole life i’ll never if
you will just tell god
in that moment
he says you know what
there’s actually something that you
aren’t paying attention to
there’s actually something that seemed
irrelevant to you there’s actually some
something that was so common in this
hiding season
but it’s the very thing
that i’ve just been waiting for you to
acknowledge
and some of you
you’re in a place where you feel like
you’ve been hidden
you’ve been covered up
your gifts haven’t been seen
your acts of service towards your spouse
haven’t been seen
you feel like nobody knows or some of
you you’ve been so afraid you’ve been so
ashamed of what you’ve done that you
felt like i don’t have anything it’s so
dark here i can’t see anything i’m so
hurt and god says to you today
in my presence
when you when you get around me
when you come to me and say god i’m not
okay god i i’m insecure god i am worried
the beautiful thing is
he says perfect
because now that you’ve admitted that
you’re not enough
now that you’ve admitted you’re weak
i can be strong
we say that scripture all the time his
strength has been perfect in my weakness
that means you gotta admit you’re weak
that means you have to be weak
this is the the the duality and the
tension of walking with god is in order
to be strong i have to be weak
and many people we think and we feel
like that following jesus is a call to
be strong
how has that happened in church
following jesus and being a christian
means you’re strong
that’s not true
the gospel is your weak
the gospel is that without him you’re
not enough the truth is it says in my
weakness
his strength is made perfect
it’s when you say
i’m hurting
i’m not okay i feel hidden i feel unseen
i feel like nobody knows who i am i feel
like i don’t know what to do in that
place
god will not only heal you
but he’ll reveal to you that hey there’s
something in your hand
that if you’ll just actually lay it down
and give it to me
i’ll use the very thing that you have
ignored
i used the very thing that felt common
to you
to heal
so
many
others
there are some people today that um
maybe you feel hidden
you feel like you’re in a dark place you
feel like nobody sees you
some of you
you are
hiding from family members
you are hiding from purpose
some of you like adam and eve you’re
hiding from god
which is just comical because
he created everything so there’s no way
to hide from him but some of you
are hiding from you
[Music]
and uh come here real quick
i just
i feel this so strongly i just have to
say something very specific um
that’s not you
i know it feels like it’s you
i know you feel like
the life i’ve built this is who i am but
that’s not you
and i just
there’s somebody watching there’s
someone that will watch this that you
you’ve been hiding behind mask for so
long you’ve been hiding you’re hurt for
so long so you’re at a point where you
feel like you’ve just given up and you
just say this is just me
this is just who i am this is just the
life i live this is just how this will
go but i want to say god is saying to
you today that’s not even you
that’s not you you’re hiding right now i
know you feel like you’ve even shown
parts of you but that still isn’t you i
know you
god is saying i i know you i formed you
before you in your mother’s room i saw
you i i know you
and that’s not you
listen you can you can trust god with
the real you
again i know maybe you haven’t been able
to trust your friends i know you’ve been
having been able to trust your family i
know some of you are in marriages where
you don’t feel safe where you don’t feel
covered but you can trust god with the
real you
you could take off the mask
you can stop acting like your life is
perfect
and some of you just today you could
just say god
here’s the real me
the real me with pain
the real me with scars
the real me that’s insecure
some of you your life is perceived as so
perfect
and you have everyone fooled
but god says
that’s not you
today
if you want healing
for the real you
if you want to come before god
exposed
a little vulnerable
a little worried
uncertain
are you anxious
are you worried about the future are you
a little insecure about your calling are
you a little uh on shaky ground right
now the beautiful thing is god can
handle it
if you just come to him and say god i
feel like i’m in a dark place i feel
like i’ve been in hiding i feel like
you’ve covered me and i’ve gotten
frustrated that i’ve been covered i’ve
gotten frustrated that people don’t see
me if you’ll just come to god and say
god i need you
in the dark place
god
can make
the very place of hiding
something holy
wherever you are right now would you
take a moment to bow your heads and
close your eyes
i want to pray for you there are some of
you today that
you’re frustrated
because
you felt hidden for too long
you felt like
you were supposed to do more by now
you felt like more people were supposed
to know who you were you felt like
you were supposed to be further along
maybe you’re like me in different
seasons of your life and you felt like
you’re not supposed to struggle with
that anymore
wherever you are you you just you feel
hidden
and there’s another group of people
maybe um
you feel like god didn’t hide you but
maybe you hid you
you put yourself in a place where people
couldn’t see who you really are you put
yourself in a place and maybe it was at
a rightful reason maybe you were hurt
maybe you tried to show who you were and
someone took advantage of that but
wherever you are today what i need you
to know
is god is with you and you’re hiding
i want to take a moment and pray over
you lord god
i thank you lord jesus that
you see
us all
lord you have a perfect plan for our
lives our god you have a beautiful plan
for our lives or god you have something
so special
and lord jesus there are people that
feel hidden
and i pray right now lord god for anyone
who feels like they’ve been covered lord
god that they can’t they aren’t seen by
other people or jesus right now i speak
against the lies that would question
their value lord god things that would
cause people to think that nobody sees
me because i don’t have value restore to
them lord jesus the confidence to
understand that they are beautifully and
wonderfully made lord god that they are
a masterpiece lord god that you have
knit them together in such a unique and
intricate way lord god and they have
infinite value to you look up they have
so much value that you said the thing
that was most valuable to you to die so
you could be in relationship with them
lord god restore
their value
that i pray right now for people who
feel afraid and ashamed
people who are trying to cover up areas
of their life look uh people who are
trying to cover up insecurities and hurt
and pain lord god and and and trying to
present this perfect facade lord jesus i
pray that you would strip all of that
away right now lord jesus i pray that
right now lord your restoration and your
loving arms would surround them lord god
right now i just thank you lord god in
the spirit there are people who are
literally peeling back the layers lord
jesus there are people who are going to
have conversations this week that are
gonna take off the mask lord god there
are people this week lord god that are
gonna lay it down and decide i’m never
putting that mask back on again look up
i think that people would stop hiding
behind wealth lord god they would stop
hiding behind influencer god they would
stop hiding behind their picture perfect
life lord jesus and i thank you that as
we
admit
that we’re weak
so we admit that we don’t have it all
together
as we admit that we need you
that you would show up lord jesus
[Music]
every head’s still about every eye is
still closed there’s a group of you in
here today
and uh you’re in a place that feels dark
you’re in a place that feels lonely
you’re a place that maybe you find
yourself and you feel like maybe you’re
like jonah and you feel like you’ve been
running from god you’ve been doing
everything you could just to hide just
to get out of the way just to like i
don’t want to be around i don’t i don’t
want to i don’t want to answer the call
i don’t want to do anything he wants me
to do here’s the thing you can hide for
as long as you want
you can run as much as you want but the
moment you turn around
the moment you acknowledge the moment
you stop for one second god’s loving
arms are there ready to receive you
you don’t have to clean up before you
come out of hiding
you don’t have to cause i know some of
you you feel the pressure to stop doing
all the stuff before you you come to god
no if you just if you just come to god
he’ll help you with all that i promise
in this moment
some of you you need to surrender your
life to jesus
what i’m going to do is i’m going to
pray a prayer
bible says you believe in your heart
confess with your mouth that jesus is
lord you shall be saved
you don’t have to be a perfect person
but i believe when you pray this prayer
god will empower you to make progress in
your life wherever you are around the
world in the room and online would you
say this prayer and repeat it after me
say dear god
thank you for loving me
dear jesus
thank you
for laying down your life
to save mine
i admit
i’ve made mistakes
save me change me
transform me
i’m yours
in jesus name i pray
amen amen amen transformation church can
we celebrate
oh come on can we make some noise for
people who just gave their life to jesus
and listen if you just made that choice
that is the best decision you could ever
make and we’re so proud of you god is so
proud of you he’s so happy for you we’re
so happy for you and we’d love to know
about it if you text the number that’s
on the screen you can send the word
saved to that short code what we’re
going to do we’re just going to give you
some resources we want to empower you we
want to help you on this journey of
following jesus listen the pressure is
not to be perfect the pressure is not to
clean your life up by yourself the
pressure is to surrender that’s the
tension just to say god i give it to you
god i can’t do it by myself and i
promise you as you progress in this life
as you continue to surrender it to him
he will transform your life forever
listen transformation church uh we are
so blessed and so grateful to have you
apart our church is not built on one
person it’s not built on one ideal or
god but it is genuinely built on a mass
group of people who are saying yes to
god every day who are representing right
where they are so we’re so grateful for
you i want to encourage you on this time
to continue to lift our pastors up in
prayer as their own sabbatical our
amazing pastors pastors michael and
natalie todd and their beautiful baby
and as they’re resting and getting
vision for this next year continue to
pray for them but listen we love you so
much we’re so grateful for you go out
and live a transformed life we’ll see
you guys