The Hiding Season: God’s Quiet Classroom

We don’t talk enough about the seasons when God hides us. They’re the times when doors seem to close, opportunities slow down, and the spotlight fades. It can feel like being benched while everyone else is in the game.

But the hiding season is not about rejection—it’s about protection and preparation. It’s the season where God develops what He will later display.

Think about Gideon in Judges 6. When the angel of the Lord appeared to him, he was threshing wheat in a winepress—hiding from the Midianites. From the outside, it looked like fear. But God saw something deeper: a man in training for a victory he couldn’t yet imagine.

If you’re in a hiding season, here’s what you need to know.

1. Hiding Is Not the Same as Being Overlooked

One of the biggest lies the enemy will tell you in a hiding season is, “God has forgotten about you.” But Psalm 139:16 says, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

God is not scrambling to figure out your life. He’s not unsure about your calling or your purpose. He knows the timing, the assignments, and the exact moment to bring you into the open. Until then, He keeps you hidden—not because you’re unworthy, but because you’re still being formed.

2. The Hiding Season Is a Time for Root Work

Trees don’t grow tall without deep roots, and believers don’t grow strong without hidden seasons of development. In the hiding place, God deals with the things no one else sees—your thought patterns, your motives, your inner life.

Luke 5:16 tells us that “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Even the Son of God spent intentional time away from the crowds, letting His roots grow deep in the Father’s presence.

In your hiding season, you might not have the platform you want, but you have access to the One who’s building your foundation.

3. Hidden Doesn’t Mean Inactive

Sometimes we think hiding means doing nothing, but that’s not how God works. David was anointed king as a teenager, but he didn’t go straight to the palace—he went back to tending sheep. His hiding season was active preparation: learning to fight lions and bears, developing leadership, and worshipping in private before he ever led in public.

If you’re hidden, ask God, “What skills do You want me to sharpen here? What habits do You want me to break? What truths do You want me to stand on before I’m seen?”

4. God Uses the Hiding Season to Heal

Some of us enter hiding because there are wounds that can’t heal in public. You can’t fully recover from betrayal, burnout, or heartbreak when you’re still performing for an audience.

Hiding gives God uninterrupted access to treat the injuries you’ve learned to cover. Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” In the quiet, He can do the deep healing that will keep you from bleeding on people you’re called to lead later.

5. The Hiding Season Protects You from Premature Exposure

Premature exposure is dangerous. If a seed is pulled out of the soil before its roots are ready, it won’t survive. The same is true spiritually—if God put you on display before you were ready, the weight of the assignment could crush you.

God’s hiding is not a punishment; it’s His mercy. He knows what’s ahead. He knows the warfare your calling will attract. And He’s committed to making sure you’re spiritually, emotionally, and mentally prepared to handle it.

6. Don’t Confuse Isolation with Hiding

Isolation is the enemy’s counterfeit for hiding. Hiding with God is intentional and purposeful—it draws you closer to Him. Isolation, on the other hand, pulls you away from godly relationships and leaves you vulnerable to attack.

In a hiding season, you might be away from the spotlight, but you’re not cut off from community. Even Jesus had Peter, James, and John with Him in some of His most private moments.

Stay connected to mentors, prayer partners, and faith-filled friends who will remind you that your hiding has a holy purpose.

7. Prepare as If the Season Could End Tomorrow

You won’t be hidden forever. Just as suddenly as God tucks you away, He can call you forward. The question is: will you be ready?

Gideon didn’t know the day the angel would show up. David didn’t know the day the king’s servant would come calling. But both were already in motion—working, serving, preparing—so that when the call came, they could step into it without hesitation.

Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” That means your preparation in the hiding season should be just as excellent as your performance in the open season.

The hiding season is not wasted time. It’s not God punishing you, forgetting you, or bypassing you. It’s His way of strengthening you for the assignment, healing you from past wounds, and ensuring that when you are revealed, you’ll be ready for the weight of the call.

So, if you’re hidden right now, embrace it. Lean into the quiet. Let Him do the root work, heal the wounds, and shape your character. Because when the hiding season ends, you won’t just be seen—you’ll be ready.

And that’s when the Gideon in you can step out of the winepress and into the victory God had planned all along.