The Hidden Season of Motherhood

Desaray Wilson | Certified Nurse Coach

This past Sunday at church, my pastor said something that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about: “Don’t confuse being hidden with being forgotten. The hidden season is where He does the greatest work.” Whew. It was one of those sentences that stays with you long after you leave church.

Then yesterday, I was sitting at dinner with my husband, Jarrod, when that message came back to me. And suddenly, I thought about motherhood. Because motherhood has so many hidden seasons. The newborn bubble when your days and nights seem to run together. The toddler years when you’re constantly needed. The transition of welcoming another baby while still caring for the child in front of you. The seasons when getting everyone dressed and out of the house feels like an accomplishment.

You love your children deeply, but somehow, you can still feel incredibly alone. And sometimes, in those seasons, you start asking questions you don't always say out loud. Where is God? Did He forget about me? Why does this feel so hard? Is something wrong with me?

Maybe everyone else seems to be moving forward while your world has become very small. Home. Nap schedules. Feedings. School drop-offs. Tantrums. Laundry. Bedtime. Starting all over again tomorrow. You may not have had a real day to yourself in longer than you can remember. And when life feels that small, it can be easy to believe you've somehow disappeared.

But what if you haven't been forgotten? What if you're simply in a hidden season? A season where much of what God is doing isn't visible yet.

Because God is still right there with you, in the thick of it. He's there in the middle-of-the-night feedings. He's there when you lock yourself in the bathroom for two minutes because you just need a moment. He's there when the tears come and you don't even completely know why. He's there when you're wondering who you are outside of being needed by everyone else. He's there in the ordinary Tuesday that no one will ever applaud you for. And maybe some of the deepest work He will ever do in us happens right there. Not on the stage. Not when everyone can see us thriving. But in the hidden places.

I think sometimes we associate growth with things we can see. The breakthrough. The answered prayer. The new opportunity. The moment everything finally makes sense. But motherhood has taught me that some of the most important transformation happens quietly.

You're becoming more patient. You're learning how to surrender control. You're discovering strength you didn't know you had. You're learning that you cannot pour endlessly without being cared for, too. You're learning to ask for help. You're learning to notice what your body needs. You're learning to depend on God differently than you did before. And none of it may look particularly impressive from the outside. But that doesn't mean nothing is happening.

Roots grow in hidden places. And maybe that's what this season is doing in you. Growing roots. Deepening your faith. Strengthening your capacity. Softening parts of you. Revealing other parts that need His care. Shaping you into the woman and mother He has called you to be.

If you're in one of those seasons right now, I hope you hear this: You haven't disappeared. You haven't fallen behind. And God hasn't forgotten where you are. Maybe you're simply in a season where the work is happening beneath the surface.

There will be seasons when you have more freedom again. You'll sleep differently. Your babies won't need you in quite the same way. You'll have space for things that feel impossible to make room for right now. But I don't want us to rush through this season believing the meaningful part of our lives is waiting somewhere on the other side of it. This is meaningful, too.

The rocking. The wiping. The carrying. The praying. The trying again. The apologizing. The regulating yourself before responding. The tiny moments when you choose presence even though you're exhausted. This is motherhood. And there is so much beauty being formed here.

So if this season feels hidden, let it be hidden. Let God meet you here. Let Him strengthen you here. Let Him remind you that being unseen by the world is not the same thing as being unseen by Him.

Because maybe your hidden season isn't evidence that you've been forgotten. Maybe it's sacred ground where God is doing some of His greatest work.

“But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” — Isaiah 64:8