10 Bible Verses About Serving Others in Hidden Places
Do you feel weary as you continue to invest in a calling that feels hidden and difficult? If so, you are not alone. Pull up a chair, and we’ll explore 10 Bible verses about serving others in hidden places today. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to encourage you as you humbly serve others.
Bible Verses About Serving Others in Hidden Places
The days passed slowly the year God wove her together in the darkness. It can be hard to hold onto hope when your dream is still covered in obscurity. You start to wonder if the dream will ever come into the light.
When our precious daughter finally came to us, I could hardly believe a whole person had been hidden inside me for so long—a whole person with tiny fingernails, long eyelashes, and delicate toes.
Helping her grow had been my calling for what felt like a long season.
I’d been called to be still and let her grow strong and full of life.
Holding her throughout those first days reminded me of the reason some of our dreams have to develop in obscure places. There’s a reason babies grow in the dark safety of the womb. Similarly, there are reasons God asks us to serve him anonymously before he calls us to public platforms.
God prepares vessels for his glory in the darkness. The darkness prepares us for the light, and without the darkness, we cannot be ready for the light.
Let’s look at what God’s Word has to say about serving others in humble, hidden places.
Bible Verses About Serving Others
Your calling might feel hidden today but don’t lose heart. God is working in the darkness. Here are 10 Bible verses about serving others in humble places.
1. Ecclesiastes 11:5
As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything (ESV).
Consider the way a seedling planted in the April sunshine rests quietly beneath overturned earth. In the same way, God often hides us as he develops us.
He hides us because we are valuable to him. He doesn’t put us in the spotlight before we are ready because he is protecting us. He’s building the gifts until the time is right.
What feels like a long season of waiting very well might be God’s protection over your life. He protects what is valuable to him. He might be hiding you to develop you.
What feels like a long season of waiting very well might be God’s protection over your life. He protects what is valuable to him. #WaitingonGod Share on X2. Luke 19:17
And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities’.
God is asking you to serve him with your whole heart in hidden places.
Faithfulness grows in obscurity.
He is calling you to put your whole heart into teaching the Bible to three women at your kitchen table. He wants you to be faithful to write letters to your lonely grandma or lead your local scout group. One day, when the timing is right, you will see how this training ground prepared you.
God tests our faithfulness to do the hard and humble acts of service in quiet places. He tests us in places where very few people notice. Be faithful in the darkness, and God will bring you into the light of the world when the time is right.
3. Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Anyone can launch into an exciting, new calling with a passionate heart. It takes grit and commitment to keep pursuing the calling when the frills have worn off and the calling feels like a monotonous daily grind.
Our motives are shaped in obscurity. When no one applauds, we are faced with jarring questions. Do you want to be applauded more than you want to be effective? Do you want to be famous more than you want to be influential? Is this really about helping others, or is it about elevating your own name?
4. 2 Corinthians 9:6
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
It can be tempting to give less than our whole hearts when it comes to embracing our callings.
Meanwhile, God’s Word reminds us that we reap what we sow. When we pour our whole hearts into the work of our hands, God is glorified. Our labor yields fruit.
This is not an incitement to avoid setting boundaries or push to the point of burnout. More accurately, we are reminded to pour our hearts into the work God places in front of us.
5. Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
Your daily work might feel obscure or insignificant. You might feel like you’re just trying to pay the bills.
Don’t lose sight of God’s calling. He has positioned you strategically, and your purpose is to love others. Ask him to fill your heart with his love for the people who cross your path today, and you will sow good spiritual seeds.
6. 2 Corinthians 9:10
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
God has promised to provide everything we need to follow him.
Are you doubting his provision today?
Turn to him and ask him to fill you with his power and presence. He wants to empower you to be fruitful, and he has promised to give you everything you need to serve him.
7. John 12:24
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Serving God can feel like dying to ourselves.
Jesus taught that those who follow him must pick up their crosses and die to themselves.
If your labor feels like it’s killing some part of you, talk to God about it. He might lead you in a different direction. More likely, he will show you that he is using the refining fire to burn off the parts of you that are not bringing him glory.
8. James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Following Jesus includes more than just agreeing with God’s Truth; we need to actually obey him.
Are you obeying God’s Word?
Talk to him about his calling on your life, and he will direct you. He is calling you to do more than merely listen to his Word with good intentions; he is calling you to action. Have you followed him? He is waiting.
9. Luke 8:15
As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
In the parable of the seeds, Jesus referred to seeds that fell in good soil. These seeds represent people who hear God’s Word, hold onto it, and let it lead to fruit-bearing in their lives.
Has God’s Truth transformed your life in such a way that you are bearing good fruit in this world?
If not, commit to spending time in God’s Word. Ask God to transform your life with his Living Word.
10. Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
When we give our lives away for the good of others and the glory of God, he blesses us.
Your labor might feel in vain today, but it is not. Continue to serving others for their good and God’s glory.
Every humble and hidden act of service matters.
~~~
Our baby girl has been in our lives for over a decade now.
All the while, I’ve chased all sorts of dreams in dark places. I’ve humbly and faithfully poured my energy into ministries no one seemed to notice. Nevertheless, my dreams are coming to fruition in these quiet places. God is moving. The faithful years of quiet service are bearing fruit.
Don’t lose hope as you chase your dream, friend. God sees.
Nothing is wasted.
Stay faithful in the darkness.
The dawn of a new day might be just around the corner.
Calling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. You can find all three books here or read more below.
Calling All Boy Moms (and Dads)!
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Find Our Family Devotionals Here
Find all three books right here. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
A Free Devotional to Help You Connect With God
God is a good Father, and he wants us to experience his healing, deliverance, and replenishment. Most of us have learned that we cannot heal, deliver, or refresh ourselves; we need God to do this work within us. I invite you to create space for God to transform your life by downloading a free copy of my devotional eBook, The Lean Into Grace Devotional: An 8-Day Devotional for Healing, Deliverance, and Replenishment. Find it for free here. 
