The Transfiguration Wasn't on Instagram

For years, Instagram has been a space where I deposit my musings in prayer, and I have loved sharing the Lord’s faithfulness through every season.

However, about a year ago, I felt the Lord asking me to withdraw from sharing for a time and calling me into hidden life with Him.

I initially resisted, believing that it was all in the name of evangelization. Yet, I came to realize how often I had seen my prayer through the lens of what made "good content."

So, I was increasingly challenged by the way my prayer looked when nobody knew about it, and when I could not exploit it for “likes” and validation. When all I wanted was to post my hot takes and feel vindicated, or publicly rejoice in the glory of a moment in prayer, I had to instead press into that secret place. And because of it, He and I developed an intimacy I will treasure forever.

I laughed about today’s Gospel. Jesus tells Peter, James, and John who witnessed His Transfiguration that they are not to tell anyone about it until after He has risen. I can only imagine how it must have felt coming down the mountain, hopeful to tell the world about Who Jesus was, only to realize that nobody could know right now.

I would have wanted to scream from the rooftops that the Nazarene they mocked was actually the Son of God. I would want people to be in awe of what I had seen. I would want to be right. And I would want to post about it on Instagram.

Yet that was not Jesus’ style. It still isn’t.

Sisters, I am more convinced than ever that Jesus wants the hidden life with us. He wants us to abandon our agenda for His faithfulness and take Him at His word. He wants to unravel work in our hearts that nobody will ever see. He wants to be with us in the secret, slow, and steady. He wants enduring intimacy.

He and I developed an intimacy I will treasure forever. // Sarah ElizabethClick to tweet

Jesus, I entrust You with my desire to be known and heard.

Sarah Elizabeth is a politics pre-law major at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Born and raised in Arizona, she finds great joy in mountains, lattes, American history, and the piano. She is constantly discovering Christ's wild love in the little things.