Coming out of Hiding

I woke up this morning just before 4 am with parts of the song “Run to the Father” by Cody Carnes wrapping me in a soft layer of assurance of God’s nearness. As I slid out from under the covers to pray the words came into clearer focus: “I run to the Father, I fall into grace. I'm done with the hiding, No reason to wait. My heart needs a surgeon, My soul needs a friend, So I'll run to the Father Again and again And again and again”

I can’t help but smile as these words pass through my mind because the post-conference reflection questions we talked through last night were:

• What might be coming out of hiding in me after this weekend?• What feels like it is rising in me?

Starting with, like we said at the conference, "He is God and I am not – and that is supremely comforting”, opens the doors to so much more than what we’ve been able to do on our own! And if the chorus weren’t enough to show me that God is in the details and is “rejoicing over me with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17) the verse that opens this song puts an even finer point on the invitation:

“I've carried a burden For too long on my own. I wasn't created To bear it alone. I hear Your invitation To let it all go. Yeah, I see it now, I'm laying it down, And I know that I need You…”

So as we begin this Monday morning, launching Mosaic Mother into public view, it not only feels like the birth of a movement of women helping women navigate their way to the Father, but like I personally am coming out of hiding. I am no longer supposed to walk in the shadows of lies of self-dependence, guarded and yet desperate for connection. I’m not an orphan having to fend for myself. I AM a daughter of the King. And (LOL I love the way the Holy Spirit illuminates the next words once I get to the next phrase!) it’s time to enroll in “finishing school”! In the natural, finishing school used to be “a school focused on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's education by providing classes primarily on deportment, etiquette, and other non-academic subjects.” (according to Wikipedia). In the Holy Spirit realm, the term “finishing” draws ME to “the Author and Finisher of our Faith” Who my spiritual big brother Paul said he had “fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7)! In looking up the word “finished”, there are other words of encouragement to “finish well”. Jesus’ brother James encourages us to “Let perseverance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:4) And it all ties together as I smile, having written earlier about abandoning my own tendency of “self-independence”, reading another of Paul’s “curious (and POINTED) questions”: “are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). I'm a first-born daughter, so yes, I have been there, done that"! I don't want to do that anymore.

So in terms of what Kinsey taught on Saturday morning, Presenting Everyone Mature in Christ, we are enrolling in a Holy Spirit finishing school! Like little 2 year olds, holding our arms up in the air, running to the Father, asking Daddy to pick her up, and learning how to “be imitators of God” “as dearly loved children” … and in the process, learning how to “finish well” without “becoming entangled” in distractions, distortions, and discouragement from the enemy.

Returning to the Well, and hearing Jesus tell us, “My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to finish His work”, we are reaching deeper levels of understanding that “apart from Me (Jesus) you can do nothing”! We NEED to abide in Him! So we wrap up this morning’s opening reflection with another verse from “Run to the Father”: “My heart has been in Your sights Long before my first breath. Running into Your arms Is running to life from death. And I feel this rush deep in my chest, Your mercy is calling out. Just as I am You pull me in And I know I need You now!… I run to the Father...”