Hide and Seek
We’ve all played the game. Everyone hides while one person counts to fifty. Then the words ring out: Ready or not, here I come! You scrunch down, hoping your hiding place is good enough. You win, if you are the very last to be discovered. Hide and Seek is an enjoyable children's game. But oddly enough, we find some adults in the Bible playing a similar game with God! For various reasons, they conceal themselves and hope the Lord won’t find them. Think of Adam and Eve, hiding among the trees of Eden. Think of Jonah, hiding below deck on a ship in the Mediterranean Sea. Adam and Eve conceal themselves because they are ashamed. They hide in guilty fear, knowing they have fractured their relationship with God. The Lord finds them and—in spite of their grave disobedience—begins to work for their salvation, covering and protection (Genesis 3:15, 21-24). God seeks their restoration and renewal. Jonah hides because he has a narrow heart. He doesn’t want God’s mercy