GOD WILL USE THE TRAINING GROUND OF HIDDENNESS TO WORK A DEATH IN YOU

Trained to Rule and Reign
How was David trained to rule and reign? He was trained by demonized King Saul!

What about Joseph? How was Joseph trained to rule and reign? The Lord custom-designed a prison sentence for him!

Esther was called to rule and reign, but first, she had to enter a pagan palace with a king who was definitely a heathen. He was someone who had an appetite for hundreds and hundreds of virgins. She would be but one of them.

I beleive that the Lord is is strategically putting us into places that we don't like "for such a time as this," AND He will work a death in us.

The question is, can we trust Him in the most serious and diverse situations? Can we believe that He is a God who can touch us right where we live?

The Lord hasn't called us to be cloistered. He hasn't called us to sit inside the walls of the church. He has called us outside the walls of the church to start to affect our society!

Prepared in Hiddenness
Esther was prepared in hiddenness. She had a secret life of hiddenness and prayer. I am sure that she cried out to God often during that year of preparation, "Oh, God. Oh, God, I love You. I love You. I'm Yours. I don't want to be here. I'm a prisoner, but I'm Yours. I surrender my life. I surrender my dreams. I give You my destiny. I don't know what it looks like, but I give it all to You!"

She became the Queen and after that, you still read of the scores of virgins that were brought in for the appetite of the sensual pagan King.

Who was Mordecai? He was put in a governmental position as a gatekeeper--a watchman; an intercessor. He knew all the business that came in and out of the gate. He even heard of two men who were plotting to kill the King. He told Esther, who told the King, and those two men were hung. We see Mordecai, as a Jew, also strategically being placed in hiddenness.

Esther's time of preparation and hiddenness was also a time of tears. It was a time where she had to go to "Gethsemane." It was a time where she had the work of the cross done in her life.

Many of us are in places of hiddenness. Like Mary, we are at the foot of the cross where it seems like all of our prophetic words have died. "Oh God, how can You make anything of this?" Mary didn't see the resurrection with her own eyes, she only saw the death. Esther, also, could only see the death. All she knew was that she was under house arrest so to speak!

If you've been in a place of hiddenness, be encouraged that God has a perfect plan for you and your role in the Kingdom of God.

We must learn from the experiences of others presented to us in the Bible to trust Him with our destiny.

Many times, we desire to trust our husbands, wives, parents, friends, and others but we must trust only God! Stop sharing everything with these people. If God gave you a vision, it's imperative that you fulfill it. Often times, we desire to take others with us and they are not prepared to go. Why, because they weren't in hidden with you when you were in training.