God is Hiding

Have you ever played hide and seek and the other guy hid so well you couldn’t find him? What did you do? You gave up, maybe shouted olly olly oxen free and then began to head home. Then the other guy jumps out and says HERE I AM!

Has God ever done the same thing? You’ve been searching and searching and searching and finally, after exhausting every spot you know to look, you give up, you say “ok God. I tried. I’m done. I’m going home.”. Have you ever noticed what happens after that? Usually God reveals himself and you find yourself in his Presence seeing his glory refreshed and anew.

And then, he hides again. And you look for him. And sometimes you find him, and sometimes you don’t.

But you know what?

There’s a pattern. God is doing something every single time. Do you see the pattern?

He is hiding. He wants you to find him. He wants to be pursued, to be found. Why? Because he wants you to want him. To seek him. To persist. The bible says so. Anyone who has encountered God can probably agree with that statement too.

I know for months, for years, I’ve often found myself searching and then, I think, the enemy gets ahold of me and I forget that God is hiding and I’m supposed to be searching for Him, and instead I start thinking “He must be mad at me”, “im doing something wrong”, “im not worthy” and it becomes about me. And I start believing the lies the enemy tells me. And then I start to give up, I shout olly olly oxen free and then bam! Oh there He is! And He rights things again.

I think that if I could just realize that He is my Father, that He loves me unconditionally. That I could never make him mad, never be unworthy, never be cast from His presence forever. If I could get that idea, and if I could realize He is hiding but wanting to be found. I think that my spiritual life would be transformed. No longer would I be on the outside looking in. wondering whats going on in the inner court, in the holy of holies. Finally I could find Him, and he could give me everything He has been wanting to give me, if I would just find him.