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221 August 8th
Playing Hide and Seek
When our two sons were young; their dad and I played hide and seek with them. Sometimes, as their dad walked down the hallway headed toward the bedrooms, the boys and I mischievously looked at each other and squealed, “Let’s hide from daddy!” I hurriedly covered both boys with a sheet or a blanket and as long as their heads and faces were covered, they felt invisible. Even when their feet and legs were exposed, they sincerely believed they were undetectable.
Although the ruse was obvious, dad played along as he entered the bedroom. Both boys tried to contain their emotions but giggled and laughed anyway. Mike would say, “Dorable, have you seen the boys?” “Little boy” sounds emanated from the covers. Then, a succession of questions and answers followed. “Are they in the closet … no, not in here. Are they behind the door … no, not there either. Are they under the bed … nope … not under the bed?”
When the boys could not take another second of suspense … they would rip the covers off and yell, “Here we are daddy!!!!!” Mike looked totally shocked and surprised. What fun!
Generally, we consider hide and seek to be a children’s game; but children aren’t the only ones who play it. Many of us continue to play hide and seek long into adulthood. Instead of hiding from the proverbial “IT,” we hide from God, we hide from ourselves, and we hide from those around us.
Why do we hide from God? For some of us it’s because we have convoluted ideas about what He is going to force us to do. Some of us mistakenly believe that He is mean and controlling. We’re afraid that God is going to force us to be missionaries in some remote land; that He’ll make us go to the far corners of the earth even when we don’t want to go.
We hide from ourselves because we feel ashamed and guilty. We feel fearful and sad. We feel these things because of some of the things we’ve done. We feel them because of some of the things that were done to us in the past.
We hide from others because when we compare ourselves to others we come up short. We feel inferior and inadequate. Instead of being authentic, our feelings of inferiority cause us to put on masks. We have a false, public image that everyone can see. We have a real, authentic private image when we are alone.
Consider your life: Do you still play hide and seek? Whether you do or not, God knows exactly where you are on your journey. He knows exactly who you are and who you can be. He knows how long your personal journey with Him is going to take. He is not disappointed with you and He knows you’re not running behind. You don’t have to hide any more. In the Earthly economy, we all want to be “found.” In God’s economy, we were never lost.
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