Have you ever found a hiding place so ingenious that in the game of hide and seek the seekers had to give up their search? The seeker would search every available nook and cranny, yet come up empty.
It was as a toddler I first played a variation of hide and seek. Peek-a-boo, by name. Hiding in plain sight with my hand over my eyes was my first foray into this game. I thought I was hiding when I couldn’t see in front of me. Yet the truth was that I was not hidden. It was only my vision that had become obscured.
Hiding from God
Hide and seek became a popular game as I grew older. Behind a tree, crouched in a dark shadow or lying in a ditch were all places of concealment. When darkness enshrouded the land, hide and seek became easier for the “hider”. Not so, for the “seeker.” The darkness eclipsed sight. It obscured vision and kept secrets.
Many of us can remember playing those games of hide and seek. The thrilling shout when we crept home and were able to holler “home free.” Then the exhilaration of the chase and the excitement of the find are moments to remember.
Yet all too often we carry this particular game into our spiritual life. We have become adept at hiding in the darkness. Concealing our heartache, shrouding our sins and obscuring our problems. Shame envelops us and we push back into the bushes to hide from the passerby, from our family and even from God.
Concealed or Revealed
Remember how Adam and Eve did this? Their disobedience and sin cloaked them with shame. With the shame came the urge for concealment. Among the bushes of that beautiful garden they crouched in fear. They were hiding from One who was seeking them.
Though our redemption has been provided and a way made for freedom from sin, we still have a tendency to hide. We hide from the hurts that are inflicted on us from others. There are heartaches veiled in the recesses of our hearts that no one sees. Our struggles and fears are masked. We feel we don’t measure up to the expectation of others and so we hide our brokenness and suppress the realities of our life. Our hunger for acceptance prods us deeper into this life of hide and seek.
Many think that the word known equals rejected. Consequently, we plant a façade of bushes around the realities of our life and there we reside. To the outside world our troubles are few and far between. On the other hand, our hearts are filled with resentment, fears and conflicts that we don’t want to face let alone let anyone else see. If we hide too long the devil twists the thought deep into our hearts that we aren’t worth finding anyway. Yet there is a tentative longing building up within us to come out of hiding and shout “home free” as we slide into base.
Known by God
Back in the garden, Adam and Eve were hiding under the same façade. Their shame had stamped them as unlovable and rejected. Feeling unworthy they hid from the only One who could make things right again. To them, being known by God meant worthlessness and despair. Yet to God, knowing them meant acceptance, healing and hope.
God is still the same God today. When we are tempted to hide from God, remember that the vulnerability of being known by God brings healing and hope. In addition, He calls us by name and gathers us close and we are home. The darkness and the light are alike to the God of the universe. Our personal darkness does not eclipse God’s vision. He still seeks and finds. When we choose to venture out of our hiding we can turn things upside down when we become a seeker after God. The promise is sure. When we seek him we will find him.
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13
It can’t be a halfway search nor a half-hearted pursuit. A heartfelt quest for God will always mean an encounter with God. He is a God who knows all about you, but loves you anyway. Moreover, your actions and attitudes do not make him love you less. His love for you is an unconditional love. In your seeking of God, you will be found by the Great Seeker of men. To be found and known by God always equals acceptance, hope and healing.
God’s Unconditional Love
There are many examples in Scriptures that reminds us to what extent God knows us, yet still loves us. Jesus knew the sordid lifestyle the woman at the well had lived, yet He offered her forgiveness and an abundant life. Though the woman caught in adultery and Mary Magdalene were both outcasts of society they found forgiveness and a purpose in Christ.
There is Peter who doubted, James and John who fought for position, Zacchaeus the cheater and Saul who was filled with anger and vengeance against God’s people. These and others like them were the broken, messed up people Jesus loved and accepted. He then went a step further and changed the trajectory of their hearts.
Our Heavenly Father knows the human foibles that we struggle with, the personality clashes that we face, as well as the emotional upheaval that comes. His love and care are not diminished when we falter and fail. Moreover, it is in our falterings and our failings that we can come in confidence to him. When we confess our spiritual poverty and our inability to make it, then God steps in and makes up the difference.
In Hiding
It was 40 long years of hiding in the desert. God came seeking Moses. Certainly God knew where Moses was hiding. God called him by name and Moses drew near. Not only did God know where Moses was, he had heard and seen the people of Israel. Exodus 3:7 declares that God had seen and heard their crying. We are always seen and heard when God is in the picture. Furthermore, God will always bring deliverance.
” I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver.”
Exodus 3:8
Moses only had a staff and a heart full of fears, doubts and questions. Yet, God met Moses with his sufficiency and called him out of hiding.
God is no stranger to the fears of his people. For example, there was Gideon hiding in the cave. He felt the shame and worthlessness that comes with running away. Remember Elijah? Despondent and desperate he ran to backside of the desert. In the stillness, God came and it was enough.
Job was hunkered down on the ash heap of misery and heartbreak. Jonah turned from the voice of God and ran into hiding. His heart filled with bitterness and anger toward the people God was wanting to deliver. For all these people and their problems, God was enough. He answered their questions and calmed their fears. Each one was turned toward a life of hope and healing. They were known and accepted by God. Transformation through God’s spirit happened.
To Seek and to Save
Jesus came to this sin filled world to seek and to save. Furthermore, He is still seeking out the hidden ones. Today, He will be enough in your situation. He knows where you are hiding and what you are hiding from. Whether it is the sins of the past or the present hurts of today, He knows and cares. Run to him and find forgiveness. Jesus is your safe place, your home. Leave the shadows of despair and flee the concealment of the façade. The broken places, Jesus will mend.
Our poverty of spirit , when brought before our All-sufficient God will be turned into fullness. The realization that we can’t but God can, becomes the action our hearts need to find a way forward. Furthermore, a path of acceptance and value in Christ is found for our feet to travel on.
Start the journey toward hope and healing. Realize that being known by God means acceptance. God’s Spirit brings transforming power. He brings hope to our troubled hearts. Come out of hiding and run to Jesus. No matter what baggage you carry, He knows and is waiting to lift your load and bring you home free.
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