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 to fall upon Israel’s enemy, the Assyrians. Better to flee from God than to preach in Nineveh!

Despite Jonah’s selfish attitude, the Lord finds him and works hard to expand Jonah’s heart. What a variety of methods the Lord uses to reach Jonah: a powerful storm, a giant fish, a fast-growing plant, and a hungry worm! (Jonah 1 and 4) God seeks a second chance for Nineveh and a more loving heart for Jonah.
I wonder if we older believers also try to hide from God sometimes.
We feel ashamed that our relationship with the Lord has grown dull over the years. We are dismayed that at our advanced age we still lack Christian graces like thankfulness and patience. Rather than seeking God to restore and renew our spirits, we hide behind too much TV and too many naps.
We hope the Lord won’t notice.
Sometimes like Jonah we grow narrow-hearted. We are comfortable with life as it is, enjoying our circle of friends and activities. We resist any nudge from God’s Spirit to open our hearts to strangers or new ministries.
We hide deep inside our comfort zones, hoping the Lord won’t find us. 
But God always seeks.

God always finds.

None of our hiding places escapes the Lord’s notice. Here's the truth of it:  
Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me.  (Psalm 139:7-10 TEV)
The Lord wants to lead us into renewed love for him and wide-open hearts toward others.With such an ever-present God seeking our good, why play hide and seek?

Let's boldly seek the Lord who is always seeking us!

©MarionSpeicherBrown

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 1, 2018 at 10:26 PM

    What a thoughtful and thought-provoking devotional! Thank you, Marion.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 4, 2018 at 9:09 AM

    Ouch! Been hiding lately. You're right MarionSpeicherBrown--it doesn't really work to hide from God. Confession time.

    ReplyDelete

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