Sara Hagerty - Unseen: The Gift of Being Hidden in a World That Loves to Be Noticed

CONTENTS

Its easy to get lost in the shuffle. This book is a gift to those of us longing to find our way back to Him.

JENNIE ALLEN, founder, IF: Gathering; author, Nothing to Prove

Saras writing is exquisite. Her words remind us that nothing goes unnoticed by the God who delights in us.

KATIE DAVIS MAJORS, author, Kisses from Katie

Listening in on Saras conversations with God will call your heart, as it did mine, to want more time with Him.

BARBARA RAINEY, FamilyLife; author, Letters to My Daughters

This book will prick your heart and encourage your soul. Let it rearrange your thinking in the most eternally beautiful of ways.

KAREN EHMAN, speaker, Proverbs 31 Ministries; author, Keep It Shut

This book is exactly what my soul needed. Sara writes with profound wisdom and humble sincerity.

SARAH MACKENZIE, author, Teaching from Rest

What a beautiful gift! Unseen invites us into the blessed center of what we were made for.

CHRISTY NOCKELS, songwriter; The Glorious in the Mundane podcast

Sara exposes the beauty of abiding in the unseen and unrecognized, and we cant help but desire the same.

RUTH CHOU SIMONS, author, GraceLaced; gracelaced.com

This journey into hiddenness will usher you to a place of newfound identity and intimacy with God.

ALLEN ARNOLD, author, The Story of With

Sara winsomely models what we all desperately need: to long for the praise of God instead of craving the praise of man.

DEE BRESTIN, author, The Friendships of Women

This book will inspire you to keep being faithful, to see beauty right where you are, and to rest in Gods sweet love for you every day.

SALLY CLARKSON, author, The Lifegiving Home; Sallyclarkson.com

With both wonder and practicality, Unseen will escort you to find that longed for place of joy and stabilityhidden in His gaze.

DANA CANDLER, author, Deep unto Deep

Im desperate to waste more time with Jesus after reading Unseen, and I will recommend it over and over again.

JEANNIE CUNNION, author, Mom Set Free

Sara shows us the power of wonder and stillness in the midst of crazy days. She gives us the courage to become unseen.

SUSAN ALEXANDER YATES, speaker; author, Risky Faith

Because of this book, I have remembered who I truly am and what I truly desire. Saras quiet story is transformative.

CHRISTIE PURIFOY, author, Roots and Sky

You cant read this spectacular book without wanting more of Jesus, the one who always sees you right where you are.

JENNIFER DUKES LEE, author, The Happiness Dare

Sara reminds us that being hidden with God is never time wasted. I desire a deeper friendship with God after reading her words.

ESTHER FLEECE, author, No More Faking Fine

I will return to this beautiful and powerful book when I need a reminder of Gods faithfulness, purposes, and love for me.

AMY JULIA BECKER, author, A Good and Perfect Gift

Unseen is pregnant with the revelation that we can do nothing to earn Gods love, a love we can experience when we are the least useful to him.

SARA HALL, marathon runner; The Hall Steps Foundation

Sara turns our eyes to the beautiful reality that God is happily engaged in our everyday moments.

CHRISTINE HOOVER, author, Messy Beautiful Friendship

If you are tugged by the allure of a life that makes a difference and are a bit disoriented by it all, Unseen is a must-read.

RUTH SCHWENK, TheBetterMom.com; coauthor, Pressing Pause

ALSO BY SARA HAGERTY

Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet:

Tasting the Goodness of God in All Things

ZONDERVAN

Unseen

Copyright 2017 by Sara Hagerty

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Epub Edition July 2017 ISBN 9780310339984

ISBN 978-0-310-33997-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-35053-8 (audio)

ISBN 978-0-310-33998-4 (ebook)

Unless otherwise marked, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version). Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with Yates and Yates, www.yates2.com.

Cover design: James W. Hall IV

Cover photo: Shutterstock

Interior design: Sarah Johnson and Kait Lamphere

First printing June 2017 / Printed in the United States of America

TO CLAIRE

Your life gave dignity to hiddenness long before I knew what it was. Until we meet again.

M y wife, Alyssa, and I were born toward the end of the 1980s. We grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s. N Sync, breakaway pants, yo-yos, chia petsthis was us.

Another byproduct of being born at this time is that we are among the first native users of the internet. We dont remember a time before it existed. I recall being ten years old and getting AOL dialup for the first time and using AOL instant messenger to chat with all my friends.

The internet is one of those things thats both a blessing and a cursea blessing, because of the sheer power of its innovation and how it has given access to information and given voice to so many who never had one, but a curse because its creating a new humanity, a new way of doing things, rewiring our being.

We are shifting the way we live in order to create better pictures to post and content to create. Many of us no longer go on a hike and then take a picture to remember it. We want to take a picture to post, so we go on a hike to get that picture. Its driving us. Its feeding our insatiable desire to be seen. Be affirmed. Be noticed. Be loved. Be liked.

A few years ago in our home state of Washington, a guy wanted to get a selfie with a moving train in the background. He wasnt paying attention to the track he was standing on, and another train sped right into him, killing him instantly.