Hide and Seek

“If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me.” Jeremiah 29:13

How many times have you tried to pray only to find yourself thinking of something else instead? How many times have you caught yourself asleep when you intended to meditate? We are so easily distracted. We are like babies whose eyes follow whatever is moving without true understanding. A fly buzzes and we are distracted from our conversation with the Sovereign God. A drip from a faucet can ruin our meditation.

God promises that in the great game of hide and seek He will be easily found if we will only look. When I was a child, I sometimes thought that if I closed my eyes and covered them with my hands that no one could see me. I would stand in the middle of the room, easily visible to my parents, and think that I was hidden. They would play along for a while, calling out my name as though they couldn’t find me. Finally, one day I realized that they could see me and then hiding became a little harder.

God is not hiding from us. He is standing in the middle of the room with His eyes open and His arms wide. We are the ones who are stumbling around the perimeter of the room with our eyes shut, wondering where God is hiding. How do I know that? History.

Consider Adam and Eve. When they sinned, who went looking for restoration, God or them? He knew what they had done and yet on He came. Adam and Eve were the ones hiding from Him. Consider David, sitting on his throne thinking he had succeeded in hiding his sin. David was smug and comfortable until God sent Nathan after him who cried “You are the man!” He could have cried “Found you!”

How about you and me? “Although the world was made through him, the world didn’t recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:10-11). While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We weren’t looking for Him. We were twisting and convulsing in our own sinful filth when God came looking for us, found us lying there in our own blood and rather than being repulsed reached out and touched us. He healed us, restored us and clothed us. We now find our selves clothed and in our right minds. And yet…

We still struggle to find God at times. When you find yourself struggling, relax, sit back, close your eyes and think back to the last time you felt close to Him. Where was it that you last saw Him? Get back there, retrace your steps and, if you are earnestly seeking, you will certainly find Him.