Hide 'n Seek

by James Charles

Do you remember playing the game Hide and Seek?  I loved it as a child.  It could be played indoors on rainy days or out of doors, which was the most fun.  It was challenging and exciting.  The one chosen as "it" had to cover their eyes....

....while everyone else ran off to hide.  If you were hiding, the anticipation of being found was both nerve wracking and exciting.  The challenge of being well hidden was offset by the desire to be found so you could be "it" next.  If you were "it" the challenge was in locating your prey quickly because it meant you were good at finding, unless, of course, the findee was just poor at hiding.  All in all, it was an afternoon of good fun.

Now, as adults, however, it's not such a good skill--the hiding part, that is.  In today's Our Daily Bread devotional David McCasland notes that "When we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear."  This seemed like one of those "blanket" statements that couldn't possibly be true in every circumstance until I began thinking about all the scriptures, such as Isaiah 41:10 that begin "Fear not, for I am with you." It's only when we hide from God that we should have reason to fear because it's then we are truly bereft.  

There are plenty of scriptures, too, that tell us good things will happen if we will seek God, such as Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  When we come out of hiding and become "it", the one who is seeking, what we will find, if it is God we seek, is everything we need.

Perhaps we should grow up and stop playing the game of Hide 'n Seek with God.  Instead, the new game should just be Seek 'n Find.  

Father, You promise us that if we will seek You, You shall be found.  That is a far more exciting endeavor than my childhood game of Hide 'n Seek.  

Link to scripture:  Jeremiah 29:13

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