Hide and Seek

(Photo by M. Henderson)

I grew up in southwest Louisiana. We were the first family on the block, but as time passed, other families came too. Eventually, we had a pack of children and we played together after school and during the summer. We built Christmas tree forts, played softball and football. When we were younger, one game we loved was, "hide & seek."

My favorite places to hide were: the wooded area behind our houses; the dirty clothes hamper in the hall bathroom (it was empty of dirty clothes); under the long built-in vanity; and in my bedroom in the huge closet.

Both of my sons loved playing hide & seek too. When my husband walked down the hallway toward their bedroom, I'd throw a sheet over the boys and pretend I did not know where they were. Walking into their bedroom, Mike would play along and say, "Dorable, have you seen the boys?" At which time, the boys would giggle and scream with glee.

Most people think the goal of "hide & seek" is to hide so well that you'll never be found; but this isn't the case. The real goal is to hide well enough to make the game fun, but not so well that you're never found. The fun really comes in the near misses. It's when you are just about to be found and you dart from your hiding place and make it back to base before the person playing "IT" can catch you. It is just awful to hide so well that "IT" can't find you. In fact, we will give our position away by making some silly noise just to keep the game interesting.

There is an adult form of "hide & seek," but instead of hiding from "IT," we hide from God and others. We hide from God because we assume He is angry, disappointed, and demanding. We hide from others because we feel inferior and ashamed. We wear "masks" so others can't see who we are for fear they will not accept us as we are.

Hiding from God started in the Garden of Eden, but it is truly pointless. We hide from the Person who loves us perfectly and completely. He's the only Person who values and cherishes us. Plus, because He is God, an all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present God, do we really think that our puny attempts at hiding will work? I don't think so.

Do you hide from God? Are you afraid of Him? Do you know Him as your good Shepherd and perfect Father? The truth is, God is the only Person we DON'T HAVE TO HIDE FROM. Perhaps we hide because we believe all the false accusations and bad press written about Him. If you knew Him personally, you would never have to hide again. Wouldn't that be a great thing?

Praying for you today,

Murphy