There was nothing I enjoyed more growing up, than in the summer evenings having a
game of Hide & Seek with the kids in my neighbourhood. I can still remember the rush
of running as fast as I could to find the perfect hiding place, then making myself as
small as I could in this place so that I wouldn't be found. Your heart would be beating
and you would be gasping for breath as you awaited the search to begin. As the seeker
came closer you would try even harder not to move; your pulse would quicken again as
they slowed near your hiding place looking for a clue to your whereabouts. Then there
was the rush of victory when they took off in another direction, having failed to find you
where you crouched!
The Bible tells us that we are to leave childish things behind when we become adults;
1 Corinthians 13:11 "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
Many of us however have brought the mentality of our youth into adulthood. We still
play Hide & Seek, although this time it is with God. We think we can hide from God!
We have examples in the Bible of people who thought they could hide from God, but
found out otherwise!
Genesis 3:8 "And they (Adam and Eve) heard the voice of the LORD God walking
in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from
the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden."
Here is the first time anyone played Hide & Seek! Can you imagine the position that
Adam and Eve had at this time. They enjoyed the companionship and presence of the
Lord God Almighty. They could fellowship with their Creator in the beautiful garden
that He had designed just for them. Yet when they sinned, their first instinct was to
hide from God. Sin immediately separates us from fellowship with God. Even though
they ran and hid, God knew what had happened. Our first thought when we sin is
to hide from God. It is our sin and shame that sends us into hiding, but God knows
just where we are.
Jonah 1:3 "But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the
LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so
he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish
from the presence of the LORD."
I'm sure we're all familiar with Jonah and his attempt to flee the Lord God. God
wanted him to go to Nineveh, but Jonah didn't want to do what the Lord asked of
him, so he choose to run and hide. It didn't work, because the Lord knows all, and
God stopped him by sending a huge fish to swallow him. It was only here, in the
belly of this great fish that Jonah realized you couldn't run from God and repented.
We do this! God wants us to do something for Him, but we refuse for whatever
reason. Sometimes we go to great lengths to avoid God, but He always knows just
where to find us, and what it will take to bring us to repentance.
Luke 22:54 & 55 "Then took they Him (Jesus) and led Him and brought Him
into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. And when they had
kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat
down among them."
Here we find Peter, the night that Jesus was arrested. Peter is trying to hide among
the crowd around the fire. He is trying to blend in. We all know that he wasn't
successful, for he was recognized, and ended up 3 times denying that he knew Jesus,
just as the Lord had told him he would. Aren't there times when we try to hide in
the presence of others? We want so hard to fit in and not be made fun of. We try to
conceal that we are Christians, we are ashamed to name the name of Christ...we are
no better than Peter!
We cannot hide from God. God see's all and knows all. Proverbs 15:3 "The
eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." He
even knows your thoughts. Psalms 139:1 & 2 "O LORD, Thou hast searched
me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou
understandest my thought afar off." Stop running from God, repent of your sin
and start enjoying the fellowship with Him that is available to you. You, be the
adult, and let the children play Hide & Seek today!
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